Rocky Mountain Stampede

Forget the records and throw out the -14 point spread, the Ravens have dominated and humilated the Broncos since the 2000 season.  The Broncos are 0-4 against Baltimore since they met in the 2000 AFC Wild Card Playoff Game.  Even more frustrating, Denver has never even played a quality game in defeat against Brian Billick's squad.  Here's a quick recap of the 4 previous meetings:

2000 AFC Wild Card Playoff:  On route to their Super Bowl XXXVI championship, the infamous Baltimore defense held the #2 ranked NFL offense to 177 total net yards and 3 total points.  To add insult to injury, former Broncos great Shannon Sharpe caught a deflected pass from quarterback Trent Dilfer and took it to the endzone from 58 yards out.  NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Mike Anderson got held to 45 rushing yards on 15 carries in an ugly 21-3 defeat

2001 Week 3:  2-0 Denver hosted the defending champions at home and got off to a fast start when mammoth DT Chester McGlockton intercepted an Elvis Grbac pass and returned to the Baltimore 3.  On the next play, Brian Griese threw a 3 yard TD pass to Dwayne Carswell to take a 7-0 Broncos lead.  After that, Denver had very few highlights as they got held to 221 yards of offense and ran for only 61 yards on ground.  Losing 16-13 late in the 4th quarter, Griese was leading Denver on a potential game saving drive when he threw his second of two interceptions to seal the game for the Ravens. 

2002 Week 4:  Broncos were flying high after a 3-0 start entering their Monday Night Football showdown in Balitmore.  Unfortunately, Clinton Portis started running his mouth before the game about Ray Lewis and got him even more fired up.  Denver got embarrassed on national television.  Chris McAlister set a NFL record with a 108 yard return of a Jason Elam blocked field goal before the end of the first half.  Ray-Ray completely leveled Broncos special teams captain Keith Burns on the play to help McAlister to the endzone.  The Ravens were leading 31-3 at halftime after Todd Heap carved up the Denver defense with 2 TD receptions from Chris Redman of all quarterbacks!   

2003 Week 8:   Two weeks before leading up tothis game, Jake Plummer got hurt getting off his couch and backup Steve Beuerlein suffered a fractured finger that would ultimately end his career.  Denver had to rely on their 3rd quarterback Danny Kanell to face Baltimore's vaunted defense in the lion's den.  Jamal Lewis ran for 134 yards in a 26-6 rout.  Lewis collided with linebacker John Mobley on a play in which he suffered a spinal injury and would ultimately end his career. 

Here's the good news, the Broncos did beat the Ravens in a 45-34 shootout during their inaugural season back in 1996 during a home game at Mile High Stadium.  Terrell Davis ran for 191 yards highlighted by a 71 yard TD run.  John Elway outdueled Vinny Testaverde by throwing for 326 yards and two scoring strikes to Ed McCaffrey.  Shannon Sharpe had one of his finest days with 161 yards receiving on 9 receptions. 

If Denver wants to put an end to their woes with the Balitmore Ravens this Sunday, they are going to need more plays like this:

(Heap ended up dropping the ball after taking a vicious lick from Al Wilson)

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