Ravens vs. Broncos preview

November 1, 9:23 AMBaltimore Sports ExaminerSteve DeClue

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Joe Flacco and the Ravens have their backs up against the wall heading into Week 8.

AP photo by Paul Battaglia

The Baltimore Ravens truly face a must-win this week against the undefeated Denver Broncos if they want to maintain a realistic shot at making the postseason.

The good news is that Denver, while better than just about everyone thought they would be, is not in the same class as the other undefeated teams. In fact, they are fairly overrated and should be exposed a bit in the second half of the season. In fact, it might just start today.

Denver has a solid defense that is above average in just about all facets of the game. The Ravens will have use a balanced offensive attack to try and keep them on their heels. Look for a heavy dose of Ray Rice in and out of the backfield after he tore up Minnesota's defense in the second half two weeks ago.

The Broncos have a a very average offense behind quarterback Kyle Orton. I think the game is going to come down to whether or not the Ravens defense can play at least somewhat close to last year's unit and stop making so many mistakes in the secondary. Orton is the kind of quarterback that doesn't bother the Ravens. He is a game-manager more than anything, and those type of quarterbacks don't have the skills to test the Ravens down the field.

The only area where Denver's offense could give the Ravens problems is with wide receiver Brandon Marshall, who has the dangerous combination of size and speed. Big wide receivers give the Ravens problems because of their small defensive backs, and a fast one means even more trouble. They key will be double-teaming Marshall and getting the pass rush to Orton before he has time to get the ball to his biggest playmaker.

Knowshon Moreno is having a pretty good year for a rooking running back but he isn't going to cause the same problems we saw from Adrian Peterson and Cedric Benson. The Ravens defense was embarassed to give up back-to-back 100-yard rushers and won't allow it that streak to continue.

Both teams are coming off their bye, but the Ravens are playing at home and desperately need a victory. The Broncos are playing well and with an edge under rookie head coach Josh McDaniels, but the Ravens are just too good at home to lose their second game of the season at M&T Bank Stadium. Ravens 23, Broncos 16.