DENVER — In sports, when one team is defeated by another and faces a rematch, the refrain from the losing team is always a familiar one: It’ll be different this time.
Will Broncos-Ravens be different in Saturday’s AFC Divisional playoff at Sports Authority Field at Mile High than it was three weeks ago in Baltimore, where the Broncos routed the Ravens, 34-17?
The Ravens were without a number of key components in that game, including linebackers Ray Lewis and Dannell Ellerbe, strong safety Bernard Pollard, Pro Bowl guard Marshal Yanda and tight end Ed Dickson.
All five of those players will be in the lineup. Pollard, Ellerbe and Lewis combined for 244 tackles during the regular season.
“It feels like it will be a different game,” Ellerbe said. “We’ve got almost everyone back.”
“It’s a different Ravens team,” Dickson said. “If they think they’re just going to run away with this game, then they got another thing coming.”
Do the Broncos, though?
They’re the hottest team in the NFL, having won their last 11 games. Led by quarterback Peyton Manning, the AFC’s leading passer, they scored the second-most points in the league (481) and their 192-point differential was second in the NFL.
Those are characteristics of a dominant team. But despite the numbers and the fact Denver is a 9 1/2 -point favorite to win the rematch, the Broncos are cautiously optimistic.
“You know they want to come back and get payback. We know that, but we’re hungry, too,’’ Broncos cornerback Chris Harris said.
“It means nothing that we beat them in the regular season,” said Denver receiver Brandon Stokley, who played with the Ravens when they beat the Broncos 21-3 in a wild-card game during their 2000 Super Bowl season. “I know we beat them pretty good, but in the playoffs it’s just a different game.”
The last meeting featured a litany of forgettable moments for the Ravens.
There was Broncos running back Knowshon Moreno leaping over free safety Ed Reed as if he were a hurdle at a track meet. There was the game-turning 98-yard interception return for a touchdown by Harris that Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco threw at the end of the first half. Flacco also lost a fumble that led to a Denver field goal.
There was the Ravens offense converting 1-of-12 third downs and Denver’s dominant time of possession edge of 38:34 to 21:36.
Flacco, who has not committed a turnover since his two in that game, said: “I think I did a great job of rebounding from that, and I think our whole team did. That’s why we are where we are right now.”
Ravens receiver Anquan Boldin said after last week’s win over the Colts he was “hoping we would get” the Broncos in the playoffs. Should Boldin and the Ravens have been careful what they wished for? Will it really be different this time? Here’s our breakdown of the game:
MARQUEE MATCHUP
QB Peyton Manning vs. Ravens MLB Ray Lewis
This is the ultimate chess match, with Manning a master of the pre-snap checks and Lewis a brilliant defensive play-caller. Manning threw 37 TD passes this season. Lewis had 13 tackles last week in his comeback from missing 10 games with a torn triceps.
COOL HAND PEYTON?
Manning is 0-3 in playoff games in which the temperature at kickoff is less than 40 degrees. In those games, he’s 64-for-120 for 612 yards with one TD and seven INTs. The temperature today is not expected to rise much above 20 degrees.
PICK UP THE RECEIVER
Boldin, who had five catches for 145 yards and a TD against the Colts last week, was shut out by Harris in the teams’ last meeting. Torrey Smith, the Ravens’ deep threat who averages 17.4 yards per catch and has eight TDs, had one catch for 14 yards against Broncos CB Champ Bailey. The Broncos corners are strong with press coverage and it bothered the Ravens wideouts last game.
RUSH TO DEFENSE
The Ravens’ rushing offense, which ranks 11th in the NFL, was held to just 59 rushing yards. Only one of the Broncos’ last 10 opponents has had a back exceed 56 yards (the Chiefs’ Jamaal Charles rushed for 107 yards on Nov. 25). Ray Rice fumbled twice last week after going the entire regular season without one. He has averaged just 58.8 yards and scored one rushing TD in his last six playoff games.
MILE HIGH ALTITUDE
Opinions differ on whether the high altitude has an adverse affect on Denver opponents. “I think there’s a physiological adjustment that has to be made — that’s science and real,’’ Broncos coach John Fox said. The Ravens have not played in Denver since 2006, so many of their players have never experienced it. “It’s an advantage, obviously, for the Broncos,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “They live there. They play there. They practice there. It’s got to be an advantage for them. It has been over the years.”
EMOTIONAL RESCUE
The Ravens were aided dramatically last week by the emotional lift of the retiring Lewis’ return to the lineup in his final home game. There is no way the Ravens can match that intensity today, so this is something to watch. “You can’t play a 60-minute football game on emotion,’’ Harbaugh said. “You’ve got to go play well. You just don’t do that emotionally. Emotion wears out really fast.’’
RETURN INVESTMENT
If the Ravens win this game, they’ll likely have gotten a big play from their electrifying kick returner Jacoby Jones, who averaged 30.7 yards per return and took two back for TDs. Jones also is a threat on punts, averaging 9.2 yards.
BAKED TURNOVERS
Oddly, despite their 13-3 record, the Broncos ranked just 17th in the NFL with a minus-1 turnover ratio while the Ravens were plus-9 and ranked eighth.