Ravens on offense: Ray Rice still is a highly productive and competitive player, but the 5-foot-8-inch, 212-pound pinball tailback no longer has to carry this offense. Rice is a compact, muscular man (have you seen those biceps?) with excellent vision and instincts. He darts through holes like a waterbug and will take on defenders twice his size. Bernard Pierce (6-0, 218) is a rugged, versatile runner who can bang inside and also turn the corner and go. Towering quarterback Joe “Cool” Flacco is coming off a solid game against the Colts but was helped out immensely by receiver Anquan Boldin. Flacco has a strong arm, and when he gets into a groove early, he will make plays all day. When rattled early, he packs his bags. Boldin was terrific last week. The big, strong receiver will fight for every ball and has tremendous body control; he will adjust to Flacco’s poorly thrown offerings. Receiver Torrey Smith has awesome speed and is an underrated downfield blocker.

Broncos on defense: There are lots of stars here, including Von Miller (18½ sacks), Elvis Dumervil (11½ sacks), Wesley Woodyard (117 tackles), and ageless cornerback Champ Bailey (66 tackles, 2 interceptions).