Baltimore Ravens, the defending Super Bowl champs, simply failed to show up and impress their fans during the first game of the NFL season. The Ravens played the Broncos in Denver and nothing seemed to go right, from the start of the game when the game was delayed because of the rain and thunderstorm approaching. It was set up to be an incredible rematch of the spectacular double over-time bout that the two teams experienced the last time that they played in the playoffs last year.
The Ravens won the last match-up and then went on to win the Super Bowl. This caused the Denver Broncos to want to take revenge and they certainly did, as Peyton Manning set a record of passing touchdowns in a single game. He connected with his receivers in the end-zone seven different times. The final score of the game ended 49-27 in favor of Manning’s Broncos.
The game started out well enough, with the Ravens forcing the Broncos to punt on every first quarter possession, according to Bleacher Report. The Ravens maintained the lead for much of the early part of the game, but it did not take long for things to turn sour. It all started when their rookie safety Brynden Trawick ran into one of their star receivers Jacoby Jones, on a punt return. This left Jones with a sprained knee, and caused him to leave for the night.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdGGfa3K8Zc
The momentum just did not come back for the Ravens after this, and they continued to beat themselves by getting penalties. They were soon looking at a huge deficit, causing their running game to be completely useless as well. Peyton Manning just kept racking up the touchdowns with his new all-star Wes Welker and could not be stopped.
It has been a great challenge for the team to rebuild, after losing a number of their stars from their Super Bowl winning team. The Ravens lost Anquan Boldin to the 49ers and a number of their veteran defensive stars as well. They lost Ed Reed to the Houston Texans, and Ray Lewis to retirement. Baltimore certainly has some work to do before they get ready to host the Cleveland Browns next Sunday. Fortunately, linebacker Terrell Suggs was not too affected by the game, telling USA Today that “It’s one game. But I guarantee they will see us again.”
Torrey Smith also chimed in via twitter, showig that it is just one game and how they are able to come back and be ready for them next time.
Good morning y'all..tough loss but you gotta give credit when it's do..too many mistakes and not enough plays made..correctable
— Torrey Smith (@TorreySmithWR) September 6, 2013