Baltimore Ravens, Denver Broncos Head Into Halftime Tied at 21

Jan 12, 2013; Denver, CO, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Torrey Smith (82) catches a pass for a touchdown past Denver Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey (24) in the first quarter during the AFC divisional round playoff game at Sports Authority Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

The Denver Broncos and Baltimore Ravens have already made up for last weekend’s Wildcard Weekend snoozefest. At halftime, the two sides are tied, 21-21, in a back and forth battle that has been highly entertaining.

Early in the first quarter, big plays were the theme.

It was a 90-yard punt return touchdown by Trindon Holliday to give Denver the early lead, a big time strike from Joe Flacco to Torrey Smith to tie it up and then Corey Graham took a Peyton Manning pass 39-yards in the opposite direction for the score. It was the first time in playoff history that a first quarter featured an offensive, defensive and special teams touchdown.

The big mismatch in the first half was Ravens receiver Torrey Smith having his way with perennial All-Pro cornerback Champ Bailey.

Smith has two catches for 91 yards and two scores in the first half. It is obvious that Bailey is unable to stick with Smith and the Broncos will need to give him safety help over the top or the Ravens could abuse Bailey for the remainder of the game.

For NFL fans, this has been an incredible start to the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs. Let’s hope that the two teams can keep up this pace for the final thirty minutes.