MONDAY NIGHT RECAP: MILE HIGH SALUTE

The Ravens came into Denver sporting one of the league's three undefeated records. For years the Ravens defense has been called top 3 in the league, if not the best. During that same time period Denver has always had a very strong but underrated defense. Denver was looking to prove that they deserved to have their defense in the same class as Baltimore, while the Ravens were out to show that although they had a soft schedule to this point, that they were for real.

The game opened up with defense, and it was a theme that never disappeared. Jake Plummer, who has more critics than about any other quarterback in the league, threw an interception early in the game, however Baltimore struggled to turn the turnovers into touchdowns. At the end of the first quarter Baltimore was completely dominating the game as they held Denver to a mere 9 yards of total offense. For the rest of the game, Denver stepped up their play and their relentless defense shined. The turning point of the contest was a third down for Baltimore at the Broncos four yard line in a 3-3 game with about one minute remaining in the first half. McNair threw a jump ball to the back of the endzone that was intercepted by Champ Bailey. Denver never looked back and cruised in the second half to a 13-3 victory. With a dominant second half performance by Al Wilson and crew, the Broncos, who have allowed one touchdown all season, showed that they had the best defense in the AFC.

Jake Plummer- The Broncos QB was off to another poor start and was getting booed early by the fans. However, Plummer turned it around for a very impressive second half, connecting with Rod Smith for the game's only touchdown. Plummer's numbers seem like they will only get better, and Jay Cutler should remain on the bench for the remainder of the season. Plummer has an excellent matchup against Oakland next Sunday night.

Tatum Bell- The running back got off to a horrible start fumbling a check down pass on one of his first touches of the game. After the first quarter, Bell tore up the tough Ravens defense finishing with 19 carries for 92 yards. Bell is one of the few players that can score on any touch. Even better news for Tatum Bell owners was that his counterpart Mike Bell did not get one carry. It seems like barring injury, Tatum will start all season.

Steve McNair- As said before, McNair was facing a very tough defense, but he did not look good all game. He tried to force passes to his wide receivers and never established a good rhythm. He was unlucky to have three interceptions because several of his passes were tipped, but he's still not a fantasy starting quarterback. He's a step up from Kyle Boller and good fit for the offense, but he probably is far removed from his days of big stats.

Derrick Mason- We're still waiting for that breakout game from one of the league's most consistent WRs. McNair and Mason have great chemistry, but Mason is still just putting up stats that an average WR would accumulate. Eventually Mason will get in the endzone, but don't expect more than 1100 yards and 4 TDs.

Jamal Lewis- The former 2000 yard rusher is far past his prime as a RB. He seems to be much more tentative and lacks any sort of explosiveness. He's getting rotated a lot with Mike Anderson and Musa Smith and last night was the least productive of the three. Lewis' days as a starting RB seem to be numbered, and one day Musa Smith will be the main man.