Broncos trample over the Ravens in NFL opener

 

DENVER BRONCOS  49    -    27  BALTIMORE RAVENS 

This past Thursday night saw the return of the NFL (National Football League) as the opening match of the regular season pitted the Superbowl Champions the Baltimore Ravens, making the journey across the country to Colorado, where they came up against the Payton Manning led Denver Broncos.
The season was pushed back an extra 33 minutes due to a severe lightning storm overhead the Mile High Stadium in Denver.

DENVER BRONCOS tight-end Julius Thomas  Pic: Jack Dempsey/AP

Peyton Manning showed his true class in this game, as the quarterback produced a record-tying 7 touchdown passes,  a record no one had equaled in 44 years in the NFL.

Champions Baltimore, took the lead through a touchdown by Vontae Leach, as he received the pass from quarterback Joe Flacco and went on to scored for the Ravens with the extra point good for a 7-0 lead.
There was concern for the Ravens then, when from a punt down field by Britton Colquitt we saw Jacoby Jones and rookie team mate Brynden Trawick collide with each other after Jones had called for a 'Fair Catch' on the 15 metre line. The Broncos thought they had recovered possession as they stopped the ball going for a Touchback and finished up with them on the 1-yard line.



Jacoby Jones was taken to the locker room as he was injured on the play with a sprained knee and missed the rest of the game, replays shown also that a Denver player brushed the ball at the Ravens 15 yard line so the play was pulled back for the Ravens to start off from the Ravens 20.
From the opening play on the drive, Joe Flacco threw towards Brandon Stokley and Chris Harris jumped in front and caught the ball for an interception on the Ravens 24 yard line.
From the first down the Broncos scored straight after, with Manning dropping back in the pocket and faked a running play as well as a pump fake, before firing up field to Julius Thomas who run it in for a touchdown and tied the game up at 7-7.




Denver then suffered a fumbled punt return , when Wes Welker let the ball slip through his hands and was quickly jumped upon by five Baltimore Ravens, as they started possession on the Broncos five yard line. 
The Ravens quarterback then found Ray Rice who hurdled a tackle and jogged into the end zone giving the lead back to the Superbowl champions for 14-7 lead. 
Julius Thomas then made a catch and ran 44-yards as he turned Michael Huff and finished up outside the 20 in the Ravens half.
The following play saw Thomas again at the heart of the play as he took another catch from Manning, spinning away from a weak tackle by the Ravens defence as he went over for another touchdown to bring the scores all level again at 14 a piece.

Payton Manning throws another Touchdown in 49-27 win
pic : AP

Baltimore missed a glorious opportunity to re take the lead once again on a 3rd & goal, but Dallas Clarke dropped the ball as he had the endzone at his mercy. So the Ravens had to make do with a field goal with twelve seconds left as Tucker kicked it between the uprights for a half time score line of 17-14 in favor of the Superbowl champions.
Second half saw a controversial play stand, when Wes Welker dropped a catch from Peyton Manning and the officials gave it as a catch, though replays backed up the first view that it was a drop. However the resulting play saw that man Julius Thomas again give the Ravens defense nightmares, as he gave 5 of the Ravens the slip and they were made to look stupid as he got to the Ravens 23.




The Broncos were on a 2nd & 3, when Payton Manning threw towards the sidelines and found Andre Caldwell who run the ball in for a 28 yard touchdown, as he did pretty well to stay in bounce too. 
Ravens head coach John Harbaugh will have greatly wished he had challenged the play now as other wise that touchdown wouldn`t have happened.
Baltimore were on a 3rd & 3, when Flacco tried to find someone down field but was sacked by Shaun Phillips and to make it worst for the away side on their punt attempt, Denver blocked Koch kick and Koch recovered the ball on the his own 10 yard line, giving the Broncos perfect position to increase their lead. And increase it they did, Manning then found Wes Welker who dodged a tackle and danced over the line for a 28-17 score to the Colorado side.

Ravens Torrey Smith holds off Tony Carter   pic: Doug Pensinger/Getty images

Dallas Clark nearly caught a Flacco pass on a 3rd & 3 attempt, when Clark got smashed by Rahim Moore as he was coming down and the ball popped out for a in-completion.
The following drive saw Manning find an open Welker in the far corner for his 2nd Touchdown of the game with the Broncos now taking over and showing their superiority on the game now at 35-17.
Manning threw his 6th touchdown pass of the evening  early on in the 4th quarter,  when he found another Thomas , but Demayrius this time round and he scored for a 28 yard score to give the home side a 42-17 Broncos lead. 




Then we had Danny Trevathan make a complete fool of himself, with the phrase Hero to Zero easily being used on this occassion. 
Trevathan had picked off a Flacco throw and he ran the ball back for a touchdown, he then celebrated in the endzone, however it was premature.
As the Bronco`s player had finished off his dance routine, in all the excitement the Denver player had actually dropped the ball on the 2 yard line as he went over to start the celebrating. So not only was it not was it not a touchdown, but it was touchback for the Ravens too.
Joe Flacco then found Brown for an 18 yard touchdown for a 42 - 24 score line, then with a 4th & 12 on the Denver twelve yard line, the Ravens coach John Harbaugh told his side to go for it till the home side took a timeout. That then forced him to changed his mind as they went for the Field goal instead, making it 27 - 42 in favor of the home side with Tucker kicking over making and in the process making it,  a 2 possession game now with 5:29 left in the match.





Payton Manning then broke the Denver Broncos quarterback record by becoming the first player in their franchise history, to throw 7 touchdown passes in a game something that the Great John Elway never accomplished in his illustrious career with the Mile High outfit.
With the home side on 3rd & 8, the Quarterback found Demaryius Thomas once again and he set off to the races, as he run the ball for a 78 yard touch down, which gave Manning the equaling league record of players to have achieved 7 touchdown passes in a game. 
The Broncos led 49-27 as they tore the reigning Superbowl champions to shreds, with the Ravens poor record in Denver continuing on as the Denver Broncos opened up their season with a 1-0 record to start the new season off & running and could this Broncos side be a Superbowl contender, based on this performance they certainly could.