Sunday Must Win Versus Broncos

A couple weeks ago I was telling people here in Minnesota not to get too excited about their Vikings.  The Vikings I said are never gonna get past the Baltimore Ravens in the Super Bowl anyway.  Fast forward two weeks, and one missed field goal, and those same people are asking me if I want them to make me some room on the Vikings bandwagon.  That same Vikings bandwagon that couldn't help the Ravens out and beat the hated Steelers last weekend.  The Ravens are in a must win game this Sunday in Baltimore.  They are 3-3, and are even trailing the bi polar Cinncinnati Bengals by 2 games in the division.  A loss here and they may be left wondering what went wrong with a season that looked so promising.

What does Baltimore get to welcome them back from the Bye week?  The undefeated Denver Broncos.  If you would have told me at the beginning of the season that one team in this game would be undefeated and one team would be 3-3 I would have thought the 3-3 team to have been the Denver Broncos who had nothing go right in the offseason it seemed.  Drama after drama all summer long, but yet here they are on top of the AFC with wins against San Diego, New England, and Dallas in the last three weeks.  While the Ravens on the other hand have lost 3 straight heart breakers against Minnesota, Cinncinnati at home, and New England.  

The Vikings and Patriots weren't awful losses.  Both came in close, hard fought games on the road.  But losing to Cinncinnati at home, and allowing Cedric Benson to run at will, and Carson Palmer to drive down the field with only minutes left was very disheartening.

That all brings us to this coming Sunday.  Baltimore and Denver both having offenses that are putting up very balanced numbers on the ground and by air.  Baltimore with a slight edge in the passing and total yardage categories while Denver has done a little better on the ground.  The difference in this game will be the defenses I think.  The story here is the Denver Broncos.  They look like the Ravens of old.  Only allowing 79 yds per game on the ground, and 182 through the air.  Baltimore on the other hand has done pretty well against the run but has given up some big yardage through the air this year, and now gets to deal with the surprising Kyle Orton to Brandon Marshall combo all day long.

Kickoff is less than 24 hours away, and the Baltimore Ravens need a win at home to save the season.  A loss tomorrow could mean 3 games back in the division at the halfway point of the season.  That's a tough whole to dig out of.  I think with two weeks to prepare, and what I hope is a giant sense of urgency the Baltimore Ravens will come out and overwhelm the Broncos and keep themselves in the hunt for the AFC North.