The Denver Broncos opened the NFL season with an amazing performance against the Baltimore Ravens and after seven touchdown passes, Peyton Manning is now primed for a great fantasy football season and so is the Denver offense.
The running backs in Ronnie Hillman, Knowshon Moreno and Montee Ball were quiet, but there was plenty to go around for Wes Welker and Demaryius Thomas, who each had two touchdowns. After months and months of waiting the NFL season is finally here and things will officially get started in 2013 with the Denver Broncos hosting the Baltimore Ravens at home in the Mile City after the Super Bowl champs and the Orioles could not work out a plan while playing in Maryland.
The champion usually hosts the first game of the season like the NY Giants did with the Dallas Cowboys last year, but that's no guarantee of a win anyways, as any New York fan can say. Both teams are coming into the new year with high expectations, especially the Broncos after the way the season ended last year with the Ravens making a stunning comeback before defeating Denver in overtime to advance to the AFC championship game against the Patriots.
Peyton Manning comes back after nearly winning MVP last season and he has some new weapons on offense to go along with stars Demaryius Thomas and Eric Decker, including free agent signing Wes Welker and rookie running back Montee Ball. The offense was more geared towards the pass last season and with Ball and Ronnie Hillman as well as Knowshon Moreno in the backfield, John Fox and the unit will be looking to get more balanced.
The Denver defense is the biggest question mark heading into the season after losing Elvis Dumervil to the Ravens and linebacker Von Miller to a suspension and players like Derek Wolfe and Robert Ayers will need to step up on Thursday and until Miller returns to the field. The defense allowed less than 300 total yards per game last season and allowed just 91 on the ground and they will have their hands full on Thursday with Ray Rice, who is one of the fastest and quickest running backs in the league. The team will play the Ravens before playing Eli Manning and the NY Giants and then they will be home against the Oakland Raiders on Monday Night Football before playing the Eagles and Cowboys, so the Broncos will be looking to start the year with a win.
The Ravens are going to look plenty different on defense without names like Ed Reed, Ray Lewis, Cary Williams, Dannell Ellerbe, Bernard Pollard and Paul Kruger no longer on the roster and the team also traded away wideout Anquan Boldin to the San Francisco 49ers. This season Joe Flacco will need Torrey Smith and last year's hero Jacoby Jones to step up and he will also need solid and steady production from Rice and Bernard Pierce in the running game. Flacco will be without one of his best targets in Dennis Pitta after he was lost for the season and he will also have the pressure of his huge contract extension that he signed after winning the Super Bowl.