Denver missed last year's playoff games but have come a long way since then. Quarterback Brian Griese finished last year with a 70-some-% passer rating. This year, he earned an NFL best 102.9% and entered the record books as one of the all-time lowest touchdown to interception ratios (19 : 4). Yet he's only started and completed 9 games. Those other 7 games have been led by Gus Frerotte, who has started 6 of the last 6 games. Brian attempted to play vs. the 49ers but was hurt toward the beginning of the contest. So who will play this week? Coach Mike Shanahan seemingly wants to start Griese but wisely will not play him if he's not near 100%. After a full week of practice last week and some practice this week, both Shanahan and Griese aren't worried about getting into the 'flow' of the game. Shanahan, however, is not planning to announce who will be quarterback until hours before gametime. Is this a good tactic to outsmart the Baltimore defense? The element of surprise is always a plus but Baltimore head coach Brian Billick says his team will prepare as if either quarterback was starting, saying they are both great and whoever starts won't hugely impact their team. We'll see.
Shannon Sharpe, Baltimore's tight end, knows what happens in the playoffs. He was with Denver for both Super Bowls and many years before. His smack-talking is known throughout the league and this is the first time Denver will be on the opposite side of him. It's almost a given that there will be plenty banter back and forth, hopefully friendly.
Baltimore's defense set a record for fewest points allowed in a season. Denver's defense is rated 29th in the NFL. BUT Denver has the secondmost interceptions in the league- behind Baltimore. Plus the D of Denver put on quite a show last week versus the 49ers' high-powered offense.
Both teams have phenomenal runningbacks who both happen to be rookies. The Ravens' Jamal Lewis has 1350 yds this year and the Broncos' Mike Anderson has 1500 yds. Both are high candidates for the rookie-of-the-year award and pending the results of this game, it may be clear who will win the honor. The Broncos' run defense allowed Bengals RB Corey Dillon to set the NFL-record for single game rushing yet only allowed 46 yds to Pro Bowl runningback Charlie Garner (49ers). If they can work through this inconsistency, then the defense of Denver can at least put on a good show for us.
How good of a game will this be? All the 'experts' are split- 3 hosts of "Inside the NFL" chose Denver, 2 chose Baltimore. 3 of the 5 ESPN analysts chose Denver. So if this game has the 'experts' split, well, who knows what can happen. |
