SNF - Broncos vs Raiders for first place

[CEH]

Moving on from rehashing a win/loss vs SD, Let Raider week begin. Finally a game worth something to both teams

The story-line for me is which crappy unit will get well against the other on Sunday night.

Will Denver's porous O come to life against OAK terrible D or will the Raider's D shine and shut down the lack luster running game of the Denver Broncos.

6 days out I feel a 24-20 game but which team will have 24 is the question.

 

[Broncos6482]

Go Broncos! Screw the Raiders.

 

[Broncosr0k]

Important note for this game, Booker is getting his shoulder looked at. I really hope he is good to go come Sunday.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Screw the Raiders.

 

[cdumler7]

Important note for this game, Booker is getting his shoulder looked at. I really hope he is good to go come Sunday.

From what I understand it is only precautionary and they expect him to be fine. Might be limited in practice all week but should be good to go for the game.

 

[cdumler7]

Been a long time since we have had a Broncos/Raiders game actually mean anything more than just a divisional game. Time for this offense to get right and this defense to keep showing high powered offenses that it is laughable for them to think they stood a chance against our defense.

 

[iknowftbll]

We've ragged on the Raiders defense all season but they have always managed to do just enough to keep themselves afloat. The Raiders, like the Broncos, win a lot of 1-score games. They just tend to be higher scoring games than games involving the Broncos. This is a very intriguing matchup. Will the Broncos offense be able to take advantage of that Raiders defense? Will the Broncos defense prove itself again against that Raiders offense? The Raiders can move it on the ground and in the air and the Broncos have given up some serious yards on the ground thus far. The Broncos have also kept opponents scoring under control so far, with the #1 scoring offense managing just 23 points against them.

I think the Raiders get more points than what the Broncos are averaging right now, but I think our offense will be able to exploit some weaknesses on their defense. Broncos 27, Raiders 24 type game.

 

[cdumler7]

We've ragged on the Raiders defense all season but they have always managed to do just enough to keep themselves afloat. The Raiders, like the Broncos, win a lot of 1-score games. They just tend to be higher scoring games than games involving the Broncos. This is a very intriguing matchup. Will the Broncos offense be able to take advantage of that Raiders defense? Will the Broncos defense prove itself again against that Raiders offense? The Raiders can move it on the ground and in the air and the Broncos have given up some serious yards on the ground thus far. The Broncos have also kept opponents scoring under control so far, with the #1 scoring offense managing just 23 points against them.

I think the Raiders get more points than what the Broncos are averaging right now, but I think our offense will be able to exploit some weaknesses on their defense. Broncos 27, Raiders 24 type game.

Look at it this way. The Raiders have the lowest point differential at +12 points this season in the entire Division yet are winning the division. So yeah a lot of very close games that could have gone either way. We can't talk much because the Broncos did that a lot last year but I just think it is an unsustainable way to continue to win games.

 

[cdumler7]

And just as a note of reference Broncos actually have the best point differential in the division and are actually 3rd in the entire NFL only behind the Patriots and Eagles at this point. So while many of our games haven't been decided until the end of the game the Broncos are still winning games much more decisively than we were last year. I think part of that is just that our offense has been just a bit better than what we got last year while the defense is actually playing pretty close to that same level.

 

[DJ]

Looking forward to it and the much maligned Raiders D has actually been playing better after an absolutely horrid start to the season. We gave up 34.5ppg the first 2 games but have allowed just 22.3ppg in the last 6 games.

 

[DJ]

I think it's going to end up coming down to Denver and Oakland for 1st place. This will be the first of two good games imo.

 

[iknowftbll]

Look at it this way. The Raiders have the lowest point differential at +12 points this season in the entire Division yet are winning the division. So yeah a lot of very close games that could have gone either way. We can't talk much because the Broncos did that a lot last year but I just think it is an unsustainable way to continue to win games.

And just as a note of reference Broncos actually have the best point differential in the division and are actually 3rd in the entire NFL only behind the Patriots and Eagles at this point. So while many of our games haven't been decided until the end of the game the Broncos are still winning games much more decisively than we were last year. I think part of that is just that our offense has been just a bit better than what we got last year while the defense is actually playing pretty close to that same level.

These thoughts on point differential are things I've thought about too, but honestly don't read all that much into as far as the matchup in front of us. After all, the Broncos finished 2015 with a differential of 59 points, and then tore the Panthers (+192) a new one in the Super Bowl. But you make a valid point about the quality of both the offense and the defense. It would've been unrealistic to expect the defense to not regress somewhat from last year's insane performance. In my mind that regression has been in the run game this year, but the pass defense has been even better than last year and the top line result is a defensive unit that is not significantly worse off than last year's.

I definitely think our offense is better this year. It's not better in a lot of ways that show up on the stat sheets but, but it's definitely better. A couple defensive scores have augmented the production and the Broncos are 13th in scoring, despite being in the bottom third of the league both on the ground and in the pass. I believe without the defensive scores factored in the team would only drop to 15th, maybe 16th (and maybe not at all if you adjust every team in like manner). That's still pretty efficient production in terms of scoring per yards travelled. I'd rather have a bottom tier offense in yards and 13th in scoring than 2nd in yards and 16th in scoring (2008 unit). There a plenty of issues on this offense but I'm not convinced they are fatal flaws. Read some of the fan comments on MHR and you have some of our fellow Broncos fans writing off this season and bemoaning the fact we didn't draft Dak Prescot, etc. I think we're in good shape. We're 6-2 and in the running for #1 seed in the playoffs. There were points along the way last year (including as late as in the actual playoffs) where people questioned if this was a Super Bowl caliber team. I don't care if the Patriots are 7-1. They were 8-0 at this point last year. How'd that work out? There's a lot of reasons to be excited about what's ahead and a showdown with the 6-2 Raiders next is a good place to start!

 

[DJ]

It's weird.....we're 5-0 on the road and just 1-2 at home. Y'all could very easily win this game and we could take the game in Denver. We always play you guys kind of tough there for some reason.

Last year we lost at home, 16-10, and beat y'all, 15-12 in Denver. And in 2011 we won in Denver.

I think it's been a long time since we beat you guys in Oakland.

 

[cdumler7]

These thoughts on point differential are things I've thought about too, but honestly don't read all that much into as far as the matchup in front of us. After all, the Broncos finished 2015 with a differential of 59 points, and then tore the Panthers (+192) a new one in the Super Bowl. But you make a valid point about the quality of both the offense and the defense. It would've been unrealistic to expect the defense to not regress somewhat from last year's insane performance. In my mind that regression has been in the run game this year, but the pass defense has been even better than last year and the top line result is a defensive unit that is not significantly worse off than last year's.

I definitely think our offense is better this year. It's not better in a lot of ways that show up on the stat sheets but, but it's definitely better. A couple defensive scores have augmented the production and the Broncos are 13th in scoring, despite being in the bottom third of the league both on the ground and in the pass. I believe without the defensive scores factored in the team would only drop to 15th, maybe 16th (and maybe not at all if you adjust every team in like manner). That's still pretty efficient production in terms of scoring per yards travelled. I'd rather have a bottom tier offense in yards and 13th in scoring than 2nd in yards and 16th in scoring (2008 unit). There a plenty of issues on this offense but I'm not convinced they are fatal flaws. Read some of the fan comments on MHR and you have some of our fellow Broncos fans writing off this season and bemoaning the fact we didn't draft Dak Prescot, etc. I think we're in good shape. We're 6-2 and in the running for #1 seed in the playoffs. There were points along the way last year (including as late as in the actual playoffs) where people questioned if this was a Super Bowl caliber team. I don't care if the Patriots are 7-1. They were 8-0 at this point last year. How'd that work out? There's a lot of reasons to be excited about what's ahead and a showdown with the 6-2 Raiders next is a good place to start!

Agree point differential isn't the end all be all but it is just an interesting stat as usually at least when it comes to figuring out records of teams is usually a pretty good indicator of where a team is at. The Raiders are winning the close games which they didn't do last year so have to tip my hat to them on that. I just don't view them as the #1 team in the AFC West though even though record wise they are.

Now as for our defense one could actually argue that our defense is playing even better than last year. You look at the quality of opponent over the first 8 games compared to last year and it is easy to see that this unit has actually went against some formidable offenses and have for the most part shut them down. They are actually giving up less points per game through the first 8 games compared to last year. Our pass defense is actually looking even better and that is with playing some top tier QB's. Right now our passing defense is only allowing 54% completion compared to 62% last year. We have given up around 300 yards less through the air total. We are allowing only 4.7 yards per attempt compared to 5.9 yards per attempt. We have given up less passing touchdowns. Yes the run defense has been playing worse but I would say the two have almost balanced each other out to the point that I would say this defense is playing as good as the unit last year.

 

[SpringStein]

I see it about 24-12 for the home team. I mean the black and silver team.

 

[cdumler7]

It's weird.....we're 5-0 on the road and just 1-2 at home. Y'all could very easily win this game and we could take the game in Denver. We always play you guys kind of tough there for some reason.

Last year we lost at home, 16-10, and beat y'all, 15-12 in Denver. And in 2011 we won in Denver.

I think it's been a long time since we beat you guys in Oakland.

Yeah I've looked at the Raiders record and for the most part it does seem the Road has been your friend and home games have been a disaster. Seems so backward compared to most teams. This will be an interesting one for sure as it is strength on strength (your offense vs. our defense) and weakness on weakness (your defense vs our offense). Should be a fun one to watch for all aspects of the game.

 

[Draft Crazy]

Screw the Raiders again.

 

[MileHigh64]

I might have to see if I can find a way to get to this game. I haven't been to Vegas for years. Oh wait....they still play in Oakland? Never mind...

 

[DJ]

Yeah I've looked at the Raiders record and for the most part it does seem the Road has been your friend and home games have been a disaster. Seems so backward compared to most teams.

The home games have been against Atlanta, SD, and KC. The only "bad" team is SD and they are kind of scrappy. The road games have been NO, Baltimore, Tennessee, Jax, and TB. The easier games have been on the road.

This will be an interesting one for sure as it is strength on strength (your offense vs. our defense) and weakness on weakness (your defense vs our offense). Should be a fun one to watch for all aspects of the game.

I can agree with this.

 

[DJ]

It's weird....I can see it being a 31-27 kind of game or a 20-16 game. I could see it going either way.










But, I'll admit since it's at home......I think we lose a close one.