By SBRForum.com
It’s a tale of two season when you look at the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders heading into their primetime matchup Thursday night on the NFL Network.
The Broncos are riding high after winning their seventh straight game and clinching the AFC West for a second-consecutive year last week. As for the Raiders, things aren’t quite as rosy. It’s been another forgetful season for the silver-and-black. Oakland has lost its last five games to drop to 3-8 and see their playoff hopes erased for a 10th straight season.
Denver is a 10.5-point favorite over the Raiders, according to this week’s NFL odds. The over/under is listed at 48.5 points. These two teams met earlier this year and it was no match. On Sept. 30 in Denver, the Broncos blitzed the Raiders 37-6.
Broncos’ quarterback Peyton Manning has to be licking his chops thinking about facing the dreadful defensive unit of the Raiders. According to NFL.com, Oakland has allowed 31.3 points a game this season—more than any other team in the league. The Raiders are equally atrocious against the run (130.4 yards a game, 28th) and the pass (256.5 yards a game, 25th).
In the season’s first matchup, Manning torched the Raiders by going 30 of 38 for 338 yards and three touchdowns.
On the other side of the ball, things don’t look much better for the Raiders. Quarterback Carson Palmer has had a decent enough season, but Oakland has been hamstrung by the inability to run the ball with any consistency. The Raiders rank 29th in the NFL in rushing with just 82.8 yards a game.
They will face a Denver defensive unit that ranks third in the NFL with just 308.2 yards a game allowed.
Oakland appears to have mailed it in this season and, given the discrepancy in production on both sides of the ball, this one could turn ugly quickly. Look for Denver, which has the incentive of playing for a better a playoff seed, to jump out early in this one and cruise to the cover.
It’s not going to be pretty tonight if the Raiders continue in 2012 form… I was hopeful that once Al was out of the picture we might see the Pride and Poise back in the Silver and Black, but nooooo!
The AFC West is the absolute worst division in the NFL and I have to believe Peyton figured this would be the case going in. Late season playoff games in Denver with the thin air and alays a chance of wind blasted snow and frigid air will give the Broncos a definite advantage if they can slide into a home field advantage situation. Houston suddenly looks beatable. If Denver wins out, and playing teams like the Raiders, Browns and Chiefs make it very possible while playing at the Ravens next week will be their toughest test as they play out the 2012 string. Houston gets New England, Indy twice and Minnesota to close out… All of those teams should put up good resistance… By rights the Texans should hold home field advantage but who knows?
Dwin…
I think this year’s Texans and Falcons teams are a little more battle-tested and I expect them to be in it for the long haul.
As for the Raiders, well they are just awful.
And nobody wants to see Peyton Manning in the post-season. Heck, the guy might be on the verge of winning another MVP. Can you imagine if they won it all?
Chris & Co
Crazy NFL season in which at the end of it all there could be multiple coaching changes and removals . So the Chargers have made the decision to retain Turner for 2013 ? Romney can’t even get within spitting distance of the White House during the elections but he gets an invite to ease his ” post election “blues” , yet Turner gets a do-over .
Billionaire , Sheldon Adelson isn’t as smart as he believes himself to be, if he spends over $25 million of his own backing Conservative candidates , and his return on that, was a mere 2% of the candidates he backed , got elected . Shelley , back a winner next time, or better yet , buy the Raiders, and try to turn that mutha-$$@ker around for the Raider-Nation’s sake ! LOL,LOL,LOL !!
Denver will march up and down on the Raiders like William Tecumseh Sherman did over the Confederates . It’ll be more than a ” scorched earth policy ” when the Broncos are finished with the Raiders .
Why is Carson Palmer still in the NFL ? If Jamarcus Russell can be considered a bust , Palmer isn’t that far behind . He’s a whining lil’ bi#tch , and he’s done nothing of note of a since he entered the league in 2003 . Nothing ever good , has come out of USC in terms of quarterbacks . You heard it here !
Pacquaio fights Juan Maquel Marquez and he’s getting a $20 million payday , to Marquez’s $5 million . Nice piece of cheddar for 12 rounds of work , if it goes that far . I’ll be watching the UFC bouts instead . Boxing , it’s getting like the ##it you see in WWE .
I got a chance to watch the Broncos and Bucs game and I’ve come to the conclusion that Denver is a very good football team. Manning looks sharp and their defense is top shelf. If I were a gamblin’ man I’d put my money on the Broncos to win the A.F.C.
Al…
The Chargers are going to keep Turner on? Really? Where did you read that and why in the world would they do that? I mean, do they want to suck? Is that their goal?
And the Raiders, man. Are fans showing up to those games with grocery bags over their heads yet? Palmer’s horrible.
With the Broncos playing the way they are, neither of those teams stand a chance to even be competitive. Did you know that Denver has as many wins (more so actually) than the rest of the teams in that division combined?!?
And I have no interest in the Pacquiao fight. I’d watch but as usual, I’ll be working so I look forward to your recap.
Aer…
Since the week’s action has already started, I couldn’t find what a Broncos future to win the conference would come back but I’m sure it can’t be very high at this point. Either way, I agree, with the way they’re playing, it’s a safe wager.
So does Peyton win NFL Comeback Player of the Year, MVP (again) AND take his team to the Super Bowl and if so can we officially dub him the greatest quarterback ever or do we still have to wait a bit?