COIN TOSS: The captains have gone to midfield for today’s coin toss. Champ Bailey, D.J. Williams, Brian Dawkins, Chris Kuper, Wesley Woodyard and Daniel Graham are the players present. The Broncos chose “heads” and won the turf. They have deferred. Baltimore will receive to start the game.

Q1 15:00: Matt Prater will start the game by kicking off to Josh Wilson. Wilson brings the kick from in the end zone and gets out near the 25-yard line. A holding penalty means the drive will start from the Ravens 11-yard line.

Q1 14:10: For the Broncos defense, Kevin Vickerson, Jamal Williams, Justin Bannan are lined up along the offensive line with Jason Hunter, D.J. Williams, Mario Haggan, and Robert Ayers as the linebackers. Champ Bailey, Andre’ Goodman, Renaldo Hill and Brian Dawkins are in the secondary. On the first play from scrimmage, Flacco hit Ray Rice for a 12-yard gain and a first down. The Broncos call their first timeout before the next play.

Q1 14:00: On first down, Rice tried the left side on the ground and picked up 2 yards. On second down, Flacco rolled out right and tossed deep for Ed Dickson. The tight end pulled in a 58-yard reception, struggling down to the Broncos 17-yard line before being pulled down by Brian Dawkins. It’s the Ravens’ longest play of the season. On the next play, Flacco had to throw the ball away. On second down, Flacco burst up the middle on a designed run, picking up 9 yards and setting up third down. On the ensuing play, Le’Ron McClain picked up a 3-yard gain and a first down. It’s first-and-goal from the Broncos 5-yard line.

Q1 11:08: On first down, Flacco burst up the middle again, picking up four yards as he pushed inside the 1-yard line. McGahee couldn’t get across on a second down run. On third down from the 1-yard line, McGahee couldn’t get in as D.J. Williams surged to the line and threw him backward. On fourth down from the 1-yard line, the Ravens went for it and Flacco couldn’t find an open receiver, taking a sack back at the 15-yard line. Jason Hunter got the sack and the Broncos will take over with the ball.

Q1 9:31: Darcel McBath was injured on the last play. He stayed down for several minutes in the corner of the end zone. He was taken off the field on a cart as several of his secondarymates showed their concern and gave him words of encouragement.

Q1 9:30: The Broncos offense has taken the field. They’ll start with Kyle Orton under center, Laurence Maroney in the backfield and Ryan Clady, Russ Hochstein, Chris Kuper and Ryan Harris along the offensive line. Daniel Graham and Dan Gronkowski are the tight ends with Eddie Royal and Demaryius Thomas as the receivers. After a pass to Royal and a run by Maroney, Orton hit Demaryius Thomas for a first down. On the ensuing play, Eddie Royal broke off a 33-yard run that was called back by holding. On 1st-and-20 from their own 20-yard line, Orton was pressured and threw the ball away. A second down carry for Buckhalter gain 7-yards.

*INJURY UPDATE* Darcel McBath has an ankle injury and will not return.

Q1 6:01: Orton hit Thomas on a quick pass on third down. It gained just 2 yards, and the Broncos will end their first drive with a punt. Britton Colquitt hit a 53-yarder. Tom Zbikowski returned the ball 8 yards before Wesley Woodyard dropped him down. The Ravens will take over at their own 27-yard line.

Q1 4:23: On first down, Ray Rice ran for 12-yards and a first down. On the ensuing first down, Rice caught a pass from Flacco for 2 yards, before he gained two more on second down. On third down, Flacco hit Derrick Mason for 19 yards and a first down. On the next play, Flacco hit Heap for 22 more yards before Perrish Cox dropped him at the Broncos 16-yard line. Flacco threw again on first down, hitting Anquan Boldin for an 8-yard gain. That’s four straight completions for the Ravens quarterback. McClain then blasted up the middle for 6 yards and a first down at the Broncos 2-yard line. On first down, the Broncos stopped McClain after a 1-yard gain. Flacco kept it himself on second down, plunging in for the Baltimore touchdown. After Billy Cundiff’s extra point, the Ravens lead 7-0 with 45 seconds left in the first quarter.

RAVENS 7, BRONCOS 0

Q1 0:45: Demaryius Thomas stepped back deep to take Cundiff’s kickoff. The rookie took the kick 7 yards deep and took a knee. The Broncos will start this possession from their own 20-yard line.

Q1 0:44: Fabian Washington knocked Kyle Orton’s first-down pass away from Brandon Lloyd. On second down, Laurence Maroney took a pitch and picked up 5 yards, setting up third-and-5. That run ended up the last play of the first quarter.

Q2 15:00: On third down, Orton hit Royal for a 6-yard gain and a first down. Maroney got the first down carry, but Baltimore’s Jarrett Johnson threw him back for a 2-yard loss. On second down, Orton fired incomplete. On third down, Buckhalter burst up the middle for an 8-yard gain. The Broncos will punt on fourth-and-3. Colquitt hit a 46-yard punt before Zbikowski returned it 12 yards. Wesley Woodyard made the special teams stop. The Ravens will start at their own 28-yard line.

Q2 12:46: Flacco continued his strong start, hitting T.J. Houshmandzadeh for a 17-yard gain. On the ensuing first down, Ray Rice weaved up the middle for an 18-yard gain. Flacco then hit Houshmandzadeh for 7 more yards down to the Broncos 30-yard line. Rice picked up three yards on a second down carry and another first down. On the next play, Flacco looked for Mason near the goal line. Perrish Cox knocked the ball away but didn’t turn his head around beforehand and was flagged for pass interference. On the following play, Rice blasted up the middle for a 1-yard touchdown. Billy Cundiff added the extra point with 10:16 left in the first half.

RAVENS 14, BRONCOS 0

Q2 10:16: On the ensuing kickoff, Demaryius Thomas brought the ball out of the end zone and was smacked at the 16-yard line by Edgar Jones and Jason Phillips. The ball came loose and the Ravens recovered at the Broncos 20-yard line. Thomas remains down on the field.

Q2 10:09: Kyle Orton and Josh McDaniels walked out to check on Thomas. After a few minutes the rookie sat up. With a pair of trainers at his side, Thomas walked off the field.

Q2 10:08: When action resumed, Rice picked up a pair to the 18-yard line. On second down, Flacco tossed the ball away under pressure from Robert Ayers. Champ Bailey knocked the third down pass away from Todd Heap. Billy Cundiff came on and drilled a 37-yard field goal to cap the short drive.

RAVENS 17, BRONCOS 0

Q2 9:21: Eddie Royal stepped back deep to take Cundiff’s kickoff. Royal took the kick 9 yards deep and downed the ball. The Broncos take over at their own 20-yard line. Orton hit Gaffney on first down for 23-yard gain. The Broncos took a quick huddle and hurried up to the line of scrimmage. Maroney got the hand off for a short gain, but the play was called back by an illegal motion penalty on Jabar Gaffney. It’s 1st-and-15 for the Broncos.

Q2 8:11: Maroney picked up 7 yards on a first down run. Orton’s second down pass fell incomplete. Before third down-and-8, the Broncos were pushed back by a false start. On third-and-13, Orton couldn’t get away from Cory Redding, who recorded the sack. The Broncos will punt again. Colquitt hit a 46-yard punt that Zbikowski fair caught. The Ravens take over at their own 21-yard line.

**INJURY UPDATE** Demaryius Thomas has a head/neck injury and will not return.

Q2 7:21: On first down, Flacco tried to hit Mason, but Dawkins hit Mason and dislodged the ball for an incompletion. A second down run by Rice gained a yard. On third-and-9, Flacco’s pass for Heap fell incomplete. That’s the Ravens first three-and-out and the first time we’ll see Baltimore punter Sam Koch. Koch hit a 53-yard punt out of bounds. The Broncos will start from their own 25-yard line.

Q2 6:27: On first down, Gaffney grabbed a 9-yard reception. Andre Brown is in the backfield now. He got the handoff and was stopped for no gain. On third-and-1, Maroney burst off the right side for a 13-yard gain and a first down. Orton misfired for Lloyd on first down. Buckhalter lost three yards on his second down carry. Eddie Royal picked up a first down on a 17-yard catch, but the play was called back by holding on Russ Hochstein. It’s third-and-23 now. Buckhalter’s carry got 2 yards, and the Broncos will punt. Colquitt’s punt went 42 yards before it was fair caught by Zbikowski.

Q2 2:14: After a short run and an incompletion, it’s third-and-7 for the Ravens. Flacco can only throw it away, and the Ravens are three plays and out again. This time, Koch’s punt sailed out of bounds at the Broncos 36-yard line. An illegal formation penalty on the Ravens will be added to the end of the kick. After the two-minute warning, the Broncos will take over at their own 41-yard line.

Q2 1:57: Orton’s first down pass hit Gaffney for 3 yards. On second down, Orton fired incomplete for Lloyd. On third-and-7, the quarterback hit Lloyd for a 10-yard gain and a first down. Then, Orton found Gaffney for a 19-yard gain to the Baltimore 27-yard. They use their second timeout to stop the clock. Out of the timeout, Orton misfired for Buckhalter and J.D. Walton was flagged for holding. They’ll be moved back to the Baltimore 37-yard line facing a 1st-and-20. A delay of game moves them back even further. On 1st-and-25, Orton fired a deep pass to Brandon Lloyd. The receiver got seperation and dove to pull in the grab in the back of the end zone for a 42-yard touchdown. Matt Prater knocks in the extra point, and the Broncos are on the board in the final minute of the first half. It’s the longest pass play against the Ravens this season, as well.

RAVENS 17, BRONCOS 7

Q2 0:43: Josh Wilson returned Prater’s kickoff to his own 21-yard line. Flacco’s toss to Boldin sailed high. Rice hits into the line for a 3-yard gain, and that’s how the half will end.

Continue to follow today’s game in the second half blog.

Tags: 2010, Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos, First Half, Week 5

This entry was posted on Sunday, October 10th, 2010 at 11:00 am and is filed under DenverBroncos.com. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.