Sept. 9, 2013
Jonathan Toman
[email protected]
The 2013-2014 National Football League season kicked off with a bang. Well, kind of.
The season opener featuring the Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens was delayed by more than half an hour due to a localized thunderstorm in the area of Sports Authority Field at Mile High on Thursday night.
Once the teams took the field, Denver was able to exact some small measure of revenge for their 38-35 double overtime playoff loss to Baltimore in January, which ended their season and Super Bowl hopes.
This game finished differently from the January matchup – and not just because the weather was the polar opposite.
The Broncos used a record-tying seven touchdown passes from Peyton Manning, as well as a blocked punt, to help pull away from the Ravens in the second half and beat them with a final score of 49-27.
The Broncos were trailing at halftime 17-14 but scored four unanswered touchdowns to start the second half and take a 42-17 lead. Peyton Manning, whose seven touchdowns were a career high, finished 27 of 42 for 462 yards.
The Broncos head to New York to face the Giants in their next game on Sept. 15. Kickoff is at 2:25 p.m.