Baltimore has clinched a wild card spot in the AFC Playoffs even after losing to the Broncos at home.
Denver hasn’t beaten the Ravens in Baltimore in their last five tries.
But that was before they had Peyton Manning.
Manning tossed a touchdown pass, Knowshon Moreno ran for a score and the surging Broncos won their ninth straight game with a 34-17 thumping of the Ravens.
Manning, who has won each of his past nine starts against Baltimore, including two playoff meetings, threw for 204 yards on 17-of-28 efficiency for Denver (11-3), which is in the midst of its longest winning streak since the 1998 squad won their first 13 contests en route to the team’s second consecutive Super Bowl.
Moreno carried the ball 22 times for 118 yards, Eric Decker caught eight passes for 133 yards and a score and Chris Harris returned an interception 98 yards for a touchdown in the triumph.
Following last Sunday’s 31-28 overtime setback to the Washington Redskins, the Ravens fired offensive coordinator Cam Cameron a day later and elevated quarterbacks coach and one of Manning’s mentors, Jim Caldwell, to the post.
The offense, though, didn’t get the jolt it was looking for.
Baltimore (9-5), which has lost three straight contests, registered three-and- outs on each of its first five possessions and didn’t record its initial first down until Bernard Pierce broke off a 14-yard run on a 2nd-and-6 at the 8:12 mark of the second quarter.
Joe Flacco was 20-of-40 for 254 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in defeat.
Article courtesy of the Baltimore Sun.