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Ravens take unbeaten mark to Mile High City

Oct 4, 2006 - 1:08 AM Baltimore (4-0) at Denver (3-1) Monday 8:30 pm EDT

DENVER (Ticker) -- The Baltimore Ravens march into the Mile High City with an unbeaten record and an MVP quarterback.

Last November, the Ravens were struggling offensively with Kyle Boller at quarterback and lost here to the Denver Broncos, 12-10. On Monday, they will have veteran Steve McNair at the controls.

The co-MVP in 2003 while with Tennessee, McNair was acquired by Baltimore in June. The 33-year-old McNair compiled a record of 81-59 with the Titans and has brought a winning attitude back to Baltimore.

McNair has directed a game-winning drive in the final minutes each of the last two weeks to help the Ravens improve to 4-0 for the first time in their history.

Last week, Baltimore trailed San Diego, 13-9, with 3:05 left when McNair engineered a six-play, 60-yard drive, capping it with a 10-yard touchdown pass to tight end Todd Heap with 34 seconds remaining.

The longest play in the drive was a 17-yard pass to Mark Clayton to the San Diego 35. McNair then scrambled for 12 yards and found Clayton again for a 13-yard pass to the 10. Two plays later, McNair dumped a short pass to Heap, who caught it at the 5 and bulled into the end zone.

The previous week, McNair engineered a drive that led to Matt Stover's 52-yard field goal with 20 seconds remaining in a 15-14 victory at Cleveland.

"We have a quarterback that can win games late," Ravens middle linebacker Ray Lewis said. "That's why we brought him here."

If McNair was a Raven last year, they may have won here. Boller lost three fumbles as the Ravens committed four turnovers in the 12-10 loss.

Meanwhile, Jake Plummer passed for 236 yards and a touchdown for Denver.

"We know it's going to be a defensive battle," said Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey, who had an interception and seven tackles in last year's meeting. "They have a great defense and we have a great defense."

The Broncos have allowed just 31 points in three games this season and did not give up a touchdown until the fourth quarter of a 17-7 win at New England on September 24.

The Ravens have yielded just 33 points and recorded 17 sacks in four games. Five of the sacks are by linebacker Bart Scott, the AFC Defensive Player of the Month in September.

Last week, Scott had 15 tackles and returned an interception 24 yards in the win over San Diego.

Monday's game should have extra significance for defensive end Trevor Pryce and running back Mike Anderson, who were both released by Denver after last season due to salary cap purposes and signed with Baltimore.

Pryce has 1 1/2 sacks for the Ravens. He spent his first nine years with Denver and was a starter on the back-to-back Super Bowl championship teams in 1997 and 1998.

Anderson led the Broncos with 1,014 rushing yards and 12 touchdowns last season. He is serving as a backup to Jamal Lewis in Baltimore.