Ravens halt Broncos' surprising streak

Denver loses first game; Colts and Saints remain NFL's only unbeaten teams

BALTIMORE -- This was more like the way it was supposed to go for the Denver Broncos this season, with a first-year coach and a new quarterback and a team coming off an offseason of change and conflict.

The Broncos were perhaps the NFL's most surprising success story of the season's early weeks when they won their first six games. But they fell from the ranks of the unbeaten Sunday and they did so with a major thud, being overwhelmed by the Baltimore Ravens in a 30-7 defeat at M&T Bank Stadium.

It was the first loss for the Broncos' Josh McDaniels as an NFL head coach, and it left the Indianapolis Colts and New Orleans Saints as the league's only undefeated teams.

"It's hard to go through the season and not lose one . . . [but] it's very disappointing," McDaniels said. "I'm disappointed in myself and disappointed in the way our team played today. . . . You face a little adversity with a loss, and then you realize that maybe some of the things that you thought were good enough just aren't good enough."

The Ravens scored 24 second-half points, beginning with a 95-yard return for a touchdown by Lardarius Webb on the opening kickoff of the half, and never looked back.

They ended a three-game losing streak and improved their record to 4-3.

"I think we know what kind of team we have, and we know we are capable of doing this kind of thing," Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco said.

Flacco completed his final 14 passes of the game, including all nine of his second-half throws. He connected on 20 of 25 passes overall, matching the Ravens' single-game team record for completion percentage at 80 percent. Flacco threw for 175 yards and a touchdown, and Ravens tailback Ray Rice ran for 84 yards and a touchdown.

"I just think they did a better job of executing down the stretch," Broncos safety Brian Dawkins said. "Sometimes you just have to tip your hat to the other team. . . . Everybody in this locker room has lost games before. I've lost games before. You learn from your mistakes and you move on."

The Broncos ran for only 66 yards and managed a modest 200 yards total offense. Quarterback Kyle Orton threw for 152 yards on 23-for-37 passing. The Baltimore defense hadn't been its usual, dominant self in recent weeks. But the Ravens more than did the job Sunday.

"We've had that kind of intensity in every single game that we've played [but] we made fewer mistakes," Ravens Coach John Harbaugh said. "We made more right plays, right decisions."

The tone perhaps was set on the very first offensive snap, when Ravens linebacker Jarret Johnson went unblocked on a blitz and sacked Orton with a jarring hit.