The Sports Xchange

DENVER — With quarterback Peyton Manning and the Broncos’ offense struggling, cornerback Aqib Talib provided the scoring boost Denver needed.

Talib returned an interception 51 yards for a go-ahead touchdown, helping overcome Manning’s sluggish performance, and the Broncos beat the Baltimore Ravens 19-13 Sunday.

The victory was Denver’s fourth straight opening-week win, and it made Gary Kubiak a winner in his debut as the Broncos’ head coach.

“It might be the greatest defensive football game I’ve ever been a part of as a coach,” Kubiak said. “On both sides of the ball, it was just tremendous. It was a battle all day long.”

The game was the first the Broncos won without scoring an offensive touchdown since beating the Kansas City Chiefs 9-6 in overtime on Sept. 17, 2006.

“Our defense played outstanding,” Manning said. “Talib made a good play to kind of negate the turnover that our offense had, so that was huge. Everybody did their part. We’ve just got to find a way to punch it into the end zone (offensively).”

In a rare occurrence, Manning was held without a touchdown pass, had an interception returned for a touchdown and was sacked four times. Kicker Brandon McManus booted four field goals, including a 33-yarder with 2:55 remaining to give Denver a six-point edge.

Manning was 24-for-40 passing for 175 yards with an interception. He finally got untracked a bit toward the end of the game, when he led a nearly 11-minute drive that ended in a field goal.

Quarterback Joe Flacco drove the Ravens to the Broncos’ 16-yard line with less than a minute to play, but his third-down pass to the end zone for tight end Crockett Gillmore was intercepted by safety Darian Stewart, a former Raven.

What we learned about the Ravens:

1. The Ravens’ defense put forward one of its best performances in keeping the Peyton Manning-led offense out of the end zone, but it will be put to the test plenty going forward as it moves ahead without Terrell Suggs. Baltimore’s star pass rusher was lost for the rest of the season when he went down midway through the fourth quarter with a torn left Achilles tendon. The Ravens will lean on younger players such as linebacker Courtney Upshaw to help fill the vacuum left by Suggs’ loss. “With Terrell going down, I’ve just got to step up my game all around,” Upshaw said. “It’s not going to be easy to try and replace what Terrell brings to the team, but we’ve got to step up.”

2. Quarterback Joe Flacco’s supporting cast took a hit in the offseason with the departures of wide receivers Jacoby Jones and Torrey Smith. Finding replacements who can stretch the field remains a work in progress. Nine Ravens had at least one reception Sunday at Denver, but there were no home run plays and the average reception went for only 6.5 yards.

3. Baltimore’s running game struggled along with its passing attack, and the early loss of left tackle Eugene Monroe to a concussion could have been part of the problem. Running back Justin Forsett had one 20-yard burst but other than that averaged less than 2 yards on 13 other carries. Getting the running game going should help in other phases of the game. “It’s not rocket science,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. “We weren’t able to run the ball with consistency, get out of third-and-longs, and then (Denver’s) pass rush cranks up a little bit.”

Etc.

–RB Justin Forsett, who rushed for a career-high 1,266 yards last season, was held to 43 yards in Baltimore’s season-opening loss at Denver. Aside from a 20-yard burst, Forsett averaged just under 2 yards on 13 other carries. Forsett was running behind a line that took a hit when LT Eugene Monroe exited in the first quarter with a concussion.

–LB C.J. Mosley had two of the Ravens’ four sacks of Denver QB Peyton Manning. It is likely the Ravens will lean on him more to heighten the team’s pass rush because of the loss of Terrell Suggs to a season-ending torn left Achilles tendon.

–QB Joe Flacco might need awhile to build up chemistry with the Ravens’ wide receiver corps. The team’s top pick, rookie WR Breshad Perriman, was among the team’s inactive players because of a knee injury. Kamar Aiken, in his first full year as a starter at wideout, had just one catch for a loss of a yard. While Steve Smith Sr. is back for the Ravens this season, both Torrey Smith and Jacoby Jones have moved to other teams, so Flacco must learn about the newcomers.