Yes, Peyton had his own ghosts in January and still had plenty to prove in Denver, where Elway ran Tim Tebow out of town after leading the Broncos to the playoffs and beating Pittsburgh in the first round with an orthodox style and a lot of prayer. But given the way Manning diced the Ravens four weeks earlier, there was plenty of respect for the way No. 18 was playing entering 2013. “We’ve got [to deal with] the MacBook that’s going to be under center,” Pollard told ESPN during the week. “That dude is a freaking computer, man. He’s one of the best in the game.”
On the offensive side of the ball, things had settled down for Caldwell and Flacco, and the communication was much improved from the Cameron era. Everyone was upbeat, plays were working and getting into the huddle quickly, and Flacco truly liked playing in cold weather. “It’s the way playoff football is meant to be played,” he said.
The reworked offensive line was excellent in its first effort against the Colts and would need to remain stout against the Broncos, who brought heat from all over the field the last time, sacking Flacco three times and hitting him nine more. Von Miller had 18 sacks on the season, and Elvis Dumervil had 11. Young rushers Derek Wolfe and Wesley Woodyard also had six sacks each, so the offensive line would be tested, especially with the noise and Flacco’s desire to push the tempo in a no huddle, hurry up offense.
The newly reconstructed line – Bryant McKinnie at left tackle, Kelechi Osemele at left guard, Matt Birk at center, Marshal Yanda at right guard, and Michael Oher at right guard – was the assemblage the team considered its best option on its pre-training camp depth chart, but when McKinnie showed up late and hurt, that group was never on the field at the same time until the Colts game. Jah Reid’s toe injury opened up a hole at left guard, and McKinnie proved that he was ready, which was a surprise to the coaching staff.
When he was healthy and motivated, McKinnie was a difference maker, a real factor for edge rushers who found it very difficult to get around his length and reach. There was a reason he was the No. 7 overall pick in the draft back in 2002. He had a God-given physical skill set that was hard to replicate and certainly couldn’t be manufactured. When he was fit and on top of his game, he was a special left tackle and had flashed that ability in the Colts game.
Whenever teams play in Denver, the altitude needs to be discussed. Breathing is usually more difficult in the thinner air. Since 1996, Ray Lewis had played in Denver four times. “It never bothered me,” he said. “They have to play in it, too.”
Defensive coordinator Dean Pees all but called it a myth. “ I never really kinda bought into the altitude thing,” he said, citing a college professor that told him that oxygen masks were a placebo because your body could only take in so much oxygen at a time. “It’s more in your head than anything else, and that’s what I’ve believed for 40 years.”
Once Saturday arrived, it was even colder than the original forecast, but a perfectly clear, sunny, 5-degree day. Getting warmed up before the game would be essential. These weren’t the kind of conditions that gave either side a true advantage. It was brutal, but the hearty orange-clad Denver football crowd had been waiting for this kind of player, this kind of home game, this kind of Super Bowl contender since Elway was on the field 15 years earlier.
The Ravens couldn’t have scripted a worse start to a road playoff game. After breaking a sweat on a frigid day with a quick first down, the Ravens offense stalled at the 38, where Sam Koch punted to speedy Trindon Holliday. As the coverage over pursued badly to the right, Holliday hit the seam and took off to the outside and was wide open for a 90-yard touchdown that ignited the Broncos crowd and gave Denver a 7-0 early lead.
All hell broke loose in an orange fury on the ensuing kickoff, which Jacoby Jones bobbled and lost on the ground. After being buried in a pile, the Ravens began the drive at the 6. It was not a good sign. It was a familiar scene for Jones, a flashback to the previous January when he dropped a ball while in a Texans uniform that the Ravens benefited from twice – first on the play and then when they brought Jones in from Texas after he was cut. This time, the damage was only field position not points. But that was something that the Ravens couldn’t afford to have happen, especially after the special teams breakdown on the Holliday return on the previous play.
However, both teams would discover that momentum was very fleeting in Denver on this afternoon.
The Ravens got their first break on a pass interference call on defensive back Tony Carter, trying to make a play on Tandon Doss. That call got them out of the hole to the 33. Two plays later, Flacco pumped and hit Torrey Smith, who was flying past perennial Pro Bowl cornerback Champ Bailey down the seam, on a 59-yard TD pass that temporarily quieted the frenzy at Mile High Stadium.
The Ravens had taken the first punch – and a nasty one – and rebounded to tie the game making a statement of their own with a big vertical presence that would haunt the Broncos all day. Flacco wasn’t afraid to go up top and that same, big arm on the field up in Newark enjoyed the thin air of Denver even more. The Broncos defensive backs were on alert. It was very unlike Bailey to let any ball go over his head.
Two plays later, Manning made his first fatal flaw when a pass intended for Eric Decker was tipped by Chykie Brown and wound up in the hands of Corey Graham who had a clear path the to end zone on a 39-yard “Pick Six” special as a frustrated Manning walked off the field down 14-7.
