The Baltimore Ravens and Denver Broncos have improved significantly since starting the season with two losses.
They have taken different paths to recover—Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have a high-powered offense, while the Broncos focus on pressuring quarterbacks and making it hard for teams to score.
This Sunday, the spotlight will be on Baltimore’s offense as they face Denver’s defense when the Ravens host the Broncos. Both teams have won five of their last six games, bouncing back well from their rough starts.
“As the season progresses, obviously the games begin to gain more significance,” said Denver coach Sean Payton. “Certainly this will be our toughest challenge to date by far. This is a real, real good football team.”
Baltimore (5-3) leads the NFL, averaging 452 yards per game. Derrick Henry is far ahead in rushing yards, and Jackson has the highest passer rating. The Ravens have many players who can make big plays and are effective in the red zone, scoring touchdowns on 25 out of 33 attempts.
The Broncos (5-3) have kept six of their eight opponents to under 20 points and rank second in the league for sacks.
“Their guys are really active, they play hard. That’s one thing you see on film,” said Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken.
“They’ve done a great job of building the core personalities of the players they’ve got playing on the field — I think that’s impressive, how hard they play and schematically how they challenge you with their pressure package.”
Jackson has been effective against blitzes this season, but his availability is uncertain after he missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday due to back and knee issues, even though he didn’t seem to have a major problem in last weekend’s game against Cleveland.
The Browns won that match 29-24, ending Baltimore’s five-game winning streak. The Ravens are one game behind Pittsburgh in the AFC North, while Denver is second in the AFC West, trailing the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs.
