The Indianapolis Colts are finished for the season. And Peyton Manning plays on.

While NFL romanticists wanted the Manning-led Broncos against his former Colts in a second-round playoff game Saturday, it was not to be.

The Broncos instead will play Ray Lewis' rockin', Ed Reed's sockin', playoff-experienced Baltimore Ravens this Saturday at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The game will begin at 2:30 p.m.

The Ravens, who got an emotional lift this week from Lewis' return from injury and announcement he would retire at season's end, knocked off the Indianapolis Colts, 24-9, Sunday at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium.

"I figured it was going to come to that," said Broncos defensive tackle Justin Bannan.

"Indianapolis had a phenomenal year. They went through a lot but with Ray coming back, I knew that was it. They were not going to lose with Ray Lewis coming back with a torn triceps in his final home game."

The Broncos and Ravens will play for the second time in four weeks. The Broncos whipped the Ravens, 34-17 in Baltimore on Dec. 16. In that game, the Broncos were up 31-3 entering the fourth quarter before Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco threw two, late touchdown passes to tight end Dennis Pitta.

"Throw whatever happened in the regular season out the window," Bannan said. "The playoffs are a whole different animal."

Manning, the Broncos' quarterback, had played 13 seasons with the Colts before missing his 14th season last year because of a neck injury. Rather than bring Manning back and build around him, the Colts released him to free agency and used their No. 1 draft pick on quarterback Andrew Luck.

Manning-Luck would have been one local tie-in between the two teams. Another would have been Colts head coach Chuck Pagano, the Boulder native who missed most of this season to receive leukemia treatments. Still, the Colts finished 11-5, a remarkable turnaround from their 2-14 record last year.

"I commend Chuck Pagano," said Bannan, who played his college ball at the University of Colorado in Boulder.

"He's a good friend of mine. I think he's one of the best guys in the world. You can see how the guys responded to him with Chuckstrong. The fact the Colts got to where they were was unbelievable. It shows that it does often come down to belief and faith because the numbers said they shouldn't have been there. They made it happen."

Pagano was back for the playoffs but ironically, Bruce Arians, the Colts' offensive coordinator who became the team's interim head coach, was hospitalized in Baltimore with flu-like symptoms Sunday and could not attend the playoff game.