Ravens vs Broncos Final Score: What we learned

The first game is in the books and the Ravens are marking it down as a loss against the Denver Broncos. A defensive struggle as the Ravens fall 13-19 after a Joe Flacco interception in the endzone ends it.

Since this is the first and only live game action we have seen, we can learn a bit off the backs of the loss and turn it into positives come next week against the Oakland Raiders.

The offensive line might not be perfect this season

The Denver Broncos undoubtedly have one of the best pass rushes in the league with the combination of DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller, but the Ravens offensive line struggled all game long both with pass protection and with opening running lanes for the Ravens' backs. Quarterback Joe Flacco was getting abused all game long even though he was only sacked twice. The pass rush was routinely in his face almost as he was getting the snap, which led to poor throws and no time to set up longer developing plays. In the running game, not having any yards on the ground took away any option at play-action-pass and limited the Ravens on offense.

This offensive line will need to improve next week against the Oakland Raiders and get themselves back on the same page.

This is a solid defense

While the Ravens' offense was not able to get things rolling, the defense decided that it didn't need an offense to score as cornerback Jimmy Smith took care of that through a pick-six. After a tough start that saw Lardarius Webb being abused by Emanuel Sanders, the defense settled down and was able to put Peyton Manning on his butt and get him to make poor decisions. Once Peyton was shaken up, the Ravens defense came into it's own and started to play like the defense you would expect. The defense allowed only 69 rushing yards and held Manning to a 59.9 QBR

Ravens need Breshad Perriman

What was apparent on offense was the lack of a deep threat. With the Broncos being able to sit on underneath routes and pin their ears back, the Ravens were limited. By having a deep threat, it would have pushed the safeties off the line of scrimmage, potentially opening up lanes for the wide receivers to catch the ball and make a play with it in their hands. Not to mention that there is the possibility that Perriman would have been able to streak down the field for a huge completion or touchdown.

The Ravens will look back at the film and figure out where they went wrong, but these are the main lessons to learn immediately following the game. What are the things that you learned about this 2015 Baltimore Ravens squad?