BALTIMORE— In the days leading up to their Week 9 meeting with the Ravens, the Broncos talked about the opportunities ahead.

In a matchup of two 5-3 teams, the Broncos had a chance to get a win against one of the AFC's top teams and strengthen their playoff record.

However, after Sunday's loss at M&T Bank Stadium, the Broncos lamented a series of missed opportunities that ultimately resulted in a 41-10 loss and dropped Denver to 5-4.

“(There were) a lot of what-ifs in this game,” quarterback Bo Nix said, “and the fact is we kicked our butts.”

Head coach Sean Payton said the Broncos were beaten in “pretty much all three phases” on Sunday, and he said his team “didn't do nearly enough things well enough” to give themselves a chance in the fourth quarter.

The missed opportunities started early when Nix's second-play pass bounced off Lil'Jordan Humphrey's hand and was intercepted. Defensive lineman John Franklin-Myers sacked Lamar Jackson to force the Ravens out of field goal range and hold Baltimore scoreless on their ensuing drive, but Denver couldn't capitalize on the big play.

After pushing the ball out of the shadow of their own goal line, the Broncos drove all the way to the Baltimore 44-yard line before being stopped on consecutive attempts that required just one yard. Javonte Williams pounced for the first time on fourth-and-1 and initially received the line to win. However, a challenge from the Ravens reversed the decision and gave Baltimore the football. The Ravens would march down the field for their first touchdown.

A series later, Denver took advantage again on fourth down and Nix looked deep to score Troy Franklin. They failed to score on the fourth and fourth plays, and Baltimore extended its lead to 10-0 on the ensuing possession.

“Well, there were obviously really important plays in the game, and when you hit them, you never know what's going to happen at the end of a drive,” Nix said. “On several of those fourth downs we went scoreless.”

The Broncos managed to cut the lead to 10-7 with a spectacular touchdown by Nix, who caught a pass from Courtland Sutton in a “Philly Special” style play. One drive later, the Broncos added points again in the form of a Wil Lutz field goal, cutting the lead to 17-10 with less than a minute before halftime.

However, the Broncos were once again unable to capitalize on the opportunity to keep the game within striking distance.

“They beat us and won, and there’s nothing you can do about that,” Sutton said. “We didn't perform the way we needed to win and that's a really good team over there. However, I feel like we missed some opportunities. I feel like (we) didn't take advantage of some opportunities that we really had.”

In a crucial period, the Ravens took a 17-10 lead with 54 seconds left in the first half – and built a 31-10 lead before the Broncos attempted another pass.

A 53-yard Zay Flowers touchdown punctuated a two-play, 70-yard drive before halftime, and the Ravens extended their lead after receiving the ball early in the second half. Denver completed just one play in that span as the Broncos fell to their knees at the end of the first half.

“It’s a big change,” Payton said. “You know, when you play on the road against a team as good as this, you want to make it to the fourth quarter, and we didn't do that.”

After a three-pointer from Denver, the Ravens added another touchdown in the ensuing second half, marking a period in which Baltimore scored 21 points while Denver ran just four plays on offense.

“We can’t let them get up like that,” outside linebacker Jonathon Cooper said. “We can’t allow that. …We just can’t let the game pass us by like that. We have to find a way to stop them.”

Overall, the Broncos' third-ranked defense allowed seven consecutive scoring drives and four consecutive touchdown drives in Sunday's loss. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson finished the game with a perfect passer rating, while Derrick Henry finished with two touchdowns and more than 100 yards.

“They pretty much beat us in all three phases,” Payton said. “We didn’t do a good enough job as coaches. We lost to a good football team and that’s disappointing.”

Nix added: “It’s not fun. You never want to lose games like this. You never want to lose, period, but of course sometimes that is unavoidable. But you don't want to lose like that. It's miserable, and so are we.” Either you sit there and point the finger at someone else, or you sit there and take responsibility for it.

As Denver quickly moves toward another tough road test, Payton said the Broncos need to “accept the misery a little bit” and get back to work.

And Sutton believes he and his teammates can use Sunday's loss as a learning experience if the team does so.

“I think it’s up to us to figure out our identity in these playoff games,” Sutton said. “We've had success in some of these other games, but I think in this atmosphere where we're playing a team like Baltimore and then coming to Kansas City next week, we have to find a way to maximize our chances whenever they are occur in every phase of the game.”

While Sutton believed Sunday was a difficult lesson, it showed the importance of taking advantage of the opportunities that come your way.

“In these playoff games, you sit there and watch them and it's a game here and a game there that can completely change the dynamic of the game and I think that's pretty much what we saw today.” said Sutton. “We had (chances) that I think could have changed the momentum of the game. You just have to learn from it.”