Baltimore Ravens vs Denver Broncos Match Player Stats On Sep 13, 2015

The Sports Xchange
Sep 13, 2015

DENVER -- Cornerback Aqib Talib returned an interception 51 yards for a go-ahead touchdown, helping overcome a sluggish performance by Denver's Peyton Manning-led offense as the Broncos beat the Baltimore Ravens 19-13 Sunday.

The victory was Denver's fourth straight opening week win and made first-year Broncos coach Gary Kubiak a winner in his debut as the team's head coach.

In a rare occurrence, Manning was held without a touchdown pass and sacked four times, while Brandon McManus kicked four field goals, including a 33-yarder with 3:00 remaining to give Denver a six-point edge.

Manning was 24-for-40 passing for 175 yards with an interception.

Joe Flacco drove the Ravens to the Broncos' 16-yard line with less than a minute to play but his third down pass to the end zone for Crockett Gillmore was intercepted by safety Darian Stewart, a former Raven. The ball was brought out to the 20-yard line where Manning took a knee to run out the final few seconds.

Two plays earlier, the Ravens just missed a touchdown. Cornerback Bradley Roby got his hand up as a Flacco pass went over him into the end zone for Steve Smith but bounced off the receiver's facemask and fell incomplete.

Flacco finished 18 of 32 for 117 yards with two interceptions.

With both offenses having difficulty establishing themselves, it was left to the Ravens' defense to strike for the game's first touchdown and it was enough to put Baltimore in front 10-9 early in the third quarter.

Blitzing cornerback Kyle Arrington barreled into Manning as he released the pass. At the same time, Smith left his man to hit wide receiver Jordan Norwood from behind as Manning's pass arrived, deflecting the ball up in the air and allowing Smith to snag the deflection on the run. He raced untouched down the right sideline for the touchdown putting the Ravens up by a point.

Justin Tucker kicked his second field goal, a 44-yarder for a 13-9 Baltimore lead before Denver answered with a pick six of its own.

Talib stepped in front of Steve Smith Sr. to intercept Flacco's pass and then wove his way downfield, stepping out of a last-ditch tackle near the goal line before tumbling into the end zone and tossing the football into the stands in celebration.

Both teams lost key players to injury during the course of the game. Baltimore left tackle Eugene Monroe left in the first quarter with a concussion and Broncos defensive end Malik Jackson went out in the third with concussion-like symptoms. Denver defensive back Omar Bolden also left in the third with a foot injury.

Denver led 9-3 at the half, behind field goals of 57, 56 and 43 yards by McManus, who became the second kicker in NFL history to make two 50-plus-yard field goals in the same game.

But the struggles of the Broncos offense were very much in evidence from the get-go. Baltimore held Denver to 114 yards in offense in the first two quarters, second fewest yards in a first half by a Manning led Broncos offense.

Baltimore had problems of its own offensively, settling for a 52-yard field goal by Tucker for its only points in the first half.

NOTES: The Broncos were without starting SS T.J. Ward, who served a league-imposed one-game suspension for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy. ... Also missing from Denver's defensive lineup was DE Derek Wolfe, who served the first of a four-game suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance enhancing drugs. ... Former Chicago Bears coach Marc Trestman is in his first year as the Ravens' offensive coordinator, replacing Gary Kubiak, now head coach of the Denver Broncos. ... The NFL debut of Baltimore's first-round pick is on hold for at least a week. WR Breshad Perriman, the 26th overall selection in the NFL draft last spring, was among the Ravens' players deactivated for Sunday's season opener. Perriman has been dealing with a knee injury suffered at the beginning of training camp.