Baltimore’s 10-9 win was not a boring affair. Here’s why.
—Tyler Huntley’s two-yard touchdown run with 28 seconds left capped a 91-yard drive that included two fourth-down conversions and gave Baltimore a 10-9 win over the visiting Denver Broncos, who clinched their fifth straight losing season. Broncos kicker Brandon McManus’ 63-yard game-winning field goal try fell short as Denver fell to 3-7 in one-score games this season. Baltimore is 4-4 in one-score games.
—The Ravens, who boosted their record to 8-4, have won six of eight games but trailed for nearly the entire game after losing only 62 minutes all year, about 40 less than the second-placed team. What didn’t help were injuries to a pair of former first-round picks, quarterback Lamar Jackson (knee) and linebacker Patrick Queen (leg), neither of whom returned to the game. Safety Kyle Hamilton and tight end Isaiah Likely were also injured, but that pair did return.
—Denver fell to 3-9 with a fourth straight loss and eighth in its last nine games. It will miss the playoffs for a seventh straight season, the franchise’s longest drought since a similar run of futility culminated in 1972. Things get no easier next week when they take on Kansas City.
—Since the Ravens play only one AFC West team next year on the road via the placement method, it’s not likely they will finish in the same spot in the standings as Denver, so the teams are probably not meeting in 2023.
—Despite a lack of points and not much spectacular offensive action, the game had a brisk pace, getting played in a robust two hours and 56 minutes.
—Denver came into the game with one of the league’s worst offenses, averaging only 14 points per game all year and scoring only six second-half touchdowns and 12 third-quarter points all season.
—The Ravens leapfrogged the Tennessee Titans into the No. 3 seed in the AFC with the win; the Titans lost in blowout fashion in Philadelphia. If the teams were to be tied again, the Titans would have a better conference record. Buffalo currently holds the second seed – trailing only pace-setter Kansas City – and it has a head-to-head win over Baltimore.
—Baltimore, with its third straight win over Denver, now takes an 8-6 lead in the lifetime series over Denver. A Ravens loss would have allowed Denver to tie it at 7-all; the Ravens are already tied with Seattle and Miami all-time.
—The Ravens’ only contributing players that were healthy scratches today were ILB Josh Bynes and RB Mike Davis. Tackle Ronnie Stanley was inactive due to his recurring ankle injury, so Daniel Faalele and Patrick Mekari rotated at left tackle.
—Denver allowed quarterback Russell Wilson to be sacked twice. Going into the game, the Broncos had yielded 36 sacks, the fourth-most in the league…
—Kicker Justin Tucker scored four points on the day, leaving him needing just two to pass Matt Stover as the all-time leading scorer in Ravens history. Stover accumulated 1464 points during the Baltimore portion of his career.
—Ravens’ eight-time Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda was inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor at halftime. The team is 12-2 on Ring induction days, losing only when Brian Billick (vs. Cleveland, 2019) and Michael McCrary (vs. Kansas City, 2004) were inducted.
—The Ravens again broke out their 1996 home wardrobe and donned purple jerseys with black pants for this game. Baltimore has won 25 of 32 games wearing that combination.
—The Ravens have now scored in 331 straight games, the league’s longest current streak and just 89 short of the NFL record set by San Francisco (1977-2004). The Ravens haven’t been shut out since Week 2 in 2002, a home-opening, 25-0 defeat at the hands of that year’s eventual Super Bowl champions, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
—On New Year’s Eve, 2000, Denver was the visitor for the Ravens’ first-ever playoff game, which the Ravens won, 21-3, on a bitterly cold day to begin the run to the first of the team’s two Super Bowl titles
—It was thought that longtime Ravens special teams coach Jerry Rosburg had retired a few years ago, but he was back in town Sunday as part of the Broncos’ coaching staff. His daughter works in the Ravens’ front office.
—Next week, the Ravens will begin their yearly home-and-home series with the AFC North rival Pittsburgh Steelers at the latest juncture in franchise history. The game will be at the newly-renamed Acrisure Stadium at 1 p.m., followed by a road game at Cleveland that has still not been assigned a date by the league; it will take place on either Saturday or Sunday, December 17 or 18.
