(Photo: Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

One day before facing the Broncos in the divisional round of the playoffs, the Ravens placed starting offensive guard Jah Reid (toe) on injured reserve.

Reid did not play in Baltimore’s win over the Colts last week in the wild card round of the playoffs and will be replaced by Bobbie Williams on the Ravens’ offensive line.  Williams started in six games for Baltimore this season and allowed four sacks.

For the Broncos, cornerback Tracy Porter (concussion) has been ruled out.  The complete injury report for Saturday’s game can be found here.

In the regular season, Denver’s Von Miller and Elvis Dumervil combined to record 29.5 sacks.  Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco was sacked 35 times in 2012.  Have fun, Williams.

Once again, deserving Denver Broncos have been snubbed from Pro Football Hall of Fame voting.

It took decades to get Floyd Little in.  Years to get Shannon Sharpe in.  Will the players below ever get into the HOF?

On Friday, the 17 finalists for the 2013 Pro Football Hall of Fame class were announced.  Not among those finalists were Terrell Davis, John Lynch and Steve Atwater.  (Neither was Karl Mecklenburg, but that is understandable.)

@jheath_den He had 2600 yards and 29 TDs in 98 including postseason, while sitting out 8 quarters during the season. AP who?

— Jeremiah Turco (@TFTurco) January 11, 2013

Down the road, cornerback Champ Bailey will easily walk into the Hall of Fame. Quarterback Peyton Manning will go in (likely as a Colt) and safety Brian Dawkins will be a candidate (like Manning, however, he will be remembered as an Eagle).

But there are seven other former Broncos that should also be given more consideration.

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We know.

Denver’s Peyton Manning is 9-10 in the postseason, 1-3 following a bye and 0-3 in sub-40 degree playoff games.

But here’s a positive number:  Peyton is 2-0 in playoff games involving the Denver Broncos (as was pointed out by Mike Birtwistle in the comments).

When the Broncos are on the field, Manning has won by scores of 41-10 (2003) and 49-24 (2004).  Saturday will mark Manning’s first playoff appearance since 2010, and his first as Denver’s starting quarterback.

Since 1999, Manning is 6-4 at home in postseason play.  The Broncos will host the Ravens tomorrow at 2:35 MT in the divisional round of the playoffs on CBS.

(Getty Images)

Coming off a bye week, Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning is 1-3 in the playoffs.

In postseason games where the temperature at kickoff is below 40 degrees, Manning is 0-3.  On Saturday, there will be a high of 19 degrees.

Things are different now.  All three of those cold losses came on the road over seven years ago.  Peyton will be playing at home this week, with his trusty glove.

Perhaps more importantly, Manning has a strong supporting cast around him on offense and probably the best defense he has ever played with.  On Saturday, history will be thrown out the window.

Peyton Manning’s career playoff record is 9-10 — He’s also won 9 straight starts against the Ravens. #SomethingsGottaGive

— NFL on ESPN (@ESPNNFL) January 9, 2013

“Forget about rest, forget about seeds, forget about who you played, when, where,” Coach John Fox told DenverBroncos.com on Monday. “It’s going to be who plays the best this Saturday night, or Saturday afternoon.”

Does Manning’s 9-10 playoff record and cold weather history make you uneasy?  Or are you confident in the older, wiser Manning?

Courtesy of USA Today Sports (via Lindsay Jones), we present the Broncos‘ dashing John Fox from his high school days:

(Courtesy of USA Today Sports)

The hair!  Brady Quinn’s number!  In all seriousness, Fox hasn’t changed a bit. Excluding the hair.  That hair!

On Thursday, EA Sports released roster updates for Divisional playoff week across the NFL.

The Broncos had three roster updates — defensive lineman Kevin Vickerson was decreased from 79 t0 78 overall, guard Manny Ramirez increased from 73 to 76 and left tackle Ryan Clady increased from 92 to 93.

The Ravens had 22 roster updates — 6 decreases, 14 and a pair of transactions.

Most notably, linebacker Terrell Suggs (92 to 90) and Ray Lewis (93 to 91) both decreased while receiver Anquan Boldin (87 to 88) and quarterback Joe Flacco (87 to 88) both increased.

Baltimore’s Ed Reed (97) and Haloti Ngata (97) are the highest-rated Ravens in the game.  Denver’s Champ Bailey (95) and Peyton Manning (93) are the top Broncos.

The Broncos and Ravens will face off on Saturday. Game info can be found here.

What:  Denver Broncos (13-3) vs. Baltimore Ravens (10-6) in the AFC Divisional Playoffs.  This will mark Denver’s second consecutive season appearing in the Divisional round of the playoffs.

Where/When:  Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Saturday, January 12 at 2:35 p.m. MT.  Arrive early for better parking.

Pep Rally:  The Broncos will hold a pep rally on Friday.  Details here.

Ray Lewis Retirement Party:  A party will begin immediately following the game.  You can party with us here on the site or at your favorite restaurant.

Broadcast Info:  The game will be nationally televised on CBS with Greg Gumbel (play-by-play) and Dan Dierdorf (color commentary) calling the game and Solomon Wilcots reporting from the sidelines.

Referee:  Bill Vinovich will ref the game, the fifth postseason game of his career.  Vinovich did not officiate any games involving the Broncos or Ravens in the regular season.

Weather:  Bundle up and be loud!  According to AccuWeather, there will be a high of 23° and a low of 8° on Saturday.  The RealFeel® will be 20° at kickoff with a 56% chance of snow flurries.  Brrrr!

Where will you be watching the game?  Who is going to the game?  Let us know in the comments below!

(Photos courtesy of Chicago Sun-Times and NYDailyNews)

The playoffs are in full swing these days but the Chicago Bears‘ season is already over.  In Chicago, the offseason starts now.

Chicago is now searching for a new head coach and Denver’s offensive coordinator, Mike McCoy, is one of the possible candidates to land the gig.

If McCoy does become the Bears next head coach, he may consider trading for New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow.  Chicago has one of the best punt returners in the NFL in Devin Hester, but their own punting squad can afford to be upgraded.

In Chicago, Tebow could team up with receiver Brandon Marshall to form one of the most talked about punting duos in the game today.

Marshall has punting experience from his time in Denver and Miami.  Although he never punted in a game, Marshall has practiced as a punter, having booted balls 20-plus yards in practice, per reports.

Tebow, on the other hand, has experience as a punt protector from his time in New York.  While Tebow’s blocking hasn’t always been easy on the eyes, he always gives it his best effort.

The only problem, of course, would be that both players currently wear jersey No. 15.  Perhaps Marshall would be willing to go back to No. 19, or Tebow might agree to go back to No. 5?

Regardless of the number situation, Tebow and Marshall teaming up to form a dynamic punting duo in Chicago would become one of the biggest sports stories of 2013.  Now we wait to see if it goes down.  Your move, Chicago.

Last week, Broncos starting left tackle Ryan Clady missed practices with a mysterious “undisclosed injury.”  The injury, now known to be a shoulder ailment, has not kept him from returning to the practice field this week.

Per Denver’s injury report, Clady fully participated in Wednesday’s practice.  With the exception of cornerback Tracy Porter (concussion), everyone on Denver’s Wednesday injury report fully participated in today’s practice.

The Broncos’ timing of regaining (close to) full health is impeccable; Denver will host Baltimore in the Divisional round of the playoffs on Saturday at 2:35 p.m. MT.  The game will be called by Greg Gumbel and Dan Dierdorf on CBS and Bill Vinovich will be the referee.

Clady not having to miss the game is huge for the Broncos.  With guard Chris Kuper also back, Denver’s offensive line will have all five of their starters ready for Ray Lewis’ retirement party this weekend.

Baltimore Ravens running back Ray Rice (27) runs with the ball and gets away from Indianapolis Colts inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman (50), for a 47 yard gain, during the first half of an NFL wild card playoff football game Sunday, Jan. 6, 2013, in Baltimore. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

The Denver Broncos will host the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round of the 2012 playoffs on Saturday, January 12, 2013, and we’re breaking down all angles. Today: we break down advanced stats of Football Outsiders.

Rankings use Football Outsiders’ regular season DVOA rankings, which take into account every play of the NFL season and are adjusted for strength of opponent. Recall that negative DVOA is good for defense, bad for offense and specials.

When the Broncos have the ball

Broncos pass offense: 49.6% (2nd)
Ravens pass defense: 3.4% (13th)

Peyton Manning only mustered a pedestrian 204 passing yards last time, but those 204 yards seemed to come with ease, and Manning had a 94.9 passer rating. Wide receiver Eric Decker had a particularly memorable game, destroying cornerback Cary Williams on multiple occasions. The Ravens did hold Demaryius Thomas to only 13 receiving yards on four catches last time, so look for the Broncos to try to make better use of that weapon. But last time, the Broncos didn’t pass much because they simply didn’t need to.

Broncos rush offense: -2.8% (15th)
Ravens rush defense: 0.9% (26th)

The Broncos outperformed expectations last time, with Knowshon Moreno leading a ground attack for which the Ravens simply didn’t have an answer. The return of LB Ray Lewis, LB Dannell Ellerbe, and S Bernard Pollard could give Baltimore the defensive boost they need, but the Broncos have G Chris Kuper hopefully coming back as well.

It’s surprising to see the Ravens ranked so low in this category, but clearly age has finally caught up to one of the most perennially dominant defensive units in the league.

Broncos offense overall: 22.1% (2nd)
Ravens defense overall: 2.2% (19th)

Advantage: Broncos

When the Ravens have the ball

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