The Denver Broncos (2-2) are coming off their biggest victory of the season but might get a big wake-up call for the second year in a row when they visit the Baltimore Ravens (3-1) on Sunday.  The Broncos beat Tennessee 26-20 last week but made a road trip to Baltimore a year ago when they were 6-0 only to get crushed 30-7 by the favored Ravens (-7).

Denver quarterback Kyle Orton is off to another hot start this season with an NFL-best 1,419 passing yards, but he also had nine touchdowns and only one interception last year when he faced the Ravens defense.  Orton was humbled by Baltimore in the last meeting with just 152 passing yards and no touchdowns, and the Broncos proceeded to lose seven more times in the last nine weeks following that fantastic start.  He threw for 341 yards with two touchdowns and one interception last Sunday in the win over the Titans.

The big weakness for Denver’s offense this year has been the running game, which is averaging a league-low 55 yards per game.  Second-year running back Knowshon Moreno has missed the last two games with a hamstring injury but returned to practice on Wednesday and may play.  Without Moreno, the Broncos have rushed for 66 yards combined on 38 carries over the two games.

The Ravens have also been dependent on the pass to lead them to wins so far this season, which is surprising considering they ranked fifth in the NFL last year in rushing yards.  Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco simply has more offensive weapons at his disposal after the team acquired wide receivers Anquan Boldin and T.J. Houshmandzadeh.  Boldin is the leading receiver for the Ravens with 355 yards while Houshmandzadeh has been coming along slowly after getting picked up from Seattle just prior to the start of the regular season but scored the game-winning touchdown in a 17-14 win at Pittsburgh last week.

Running back Ray Rice was expected to be a major force in Baltimore’s offense this season but has not rushed for more than 87 yards or scored a touchdown in any game.  Rice is nursing a knee injury and could struggle again here against a Denver run defense that is allowing 101 yards per game on the ground and has given up just one rushing touchdown.  The Broncos held Tennessee running back Chris Johnson to 53 yards on 19 carries last week in their victory.

The Ravens are 6-1 against the spread in the last seven meetings with Denver, and the UNDER has gone 6-1 during that stretch.  The UNDER is also 12-4 in Baltimore’s last 16 games as a favorite and 5-2-1 in the last eight October games for the Broncos.  One of our 5 NFL picks is on this game.  We are currently on a 76% run with our pro picks and this figures to be another profitable week.  You can get these NFL picks by visiting our NFL football predictions page of the site.