The Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders last played in a Week 1 game that was anything but pretty from the Broncos’ perspective. The Broncos lost in Oakland against a team that had been in the fog of the Antonio Brown drama all week, had brand new starters across the entire field, and were a complete enigma out of the off-season and preseason.
Isaac Yaidom was taken advantage of by Derek Carr and the Raiders offense, the Broncos missed a field goal and had two penalties knock them out of field goal position, and DaeSean Hamilton dropped a touchdown pass which kept eight points off the scoreboard in a 24-16 loss. In this game, Derek Carr, dinked and dunked his way to 22 of 26 passing for 259 yards, a touchdown, zero turnovers, and wasn’t sacked. For this Week 17, inter-division game to be different, the Broncos will have to play a better brand of football.
This game has plenty of storylines going into it starting with the Raiders’ chase for a playoff berth that requires them winning, and a trio of other teams losing. The Broncos have a chance to play spoiler and kick a rival out of playoff contention.
Another storyline is the Broncos seeking revenge for their Week 1 loss. What could possibly be a better indicator of team development than beating the team in Week 17, at home, that they lost to in Week 1 on the road?
Its no secret the Broncos have been injured this season and have lost a bunch of major players including Bradley Chubb, DeVante Bausby, Bryce Callahan, Ja’Wuan James, Andy Janovich, Ronald Leary, Kareem Jackson, Derek Wolfe, and Emmanuel Sanders, just to name a few.
Despite all of these injuries, the team has won three of their last four games with Drew Lock under center, has a winning home record, has a chance to surpass their win total from a year ago, and most importantly, has provided faith that next season this roster can be a playoff contender.
Some offensive goals for this game will be for Drew Lock to go 4-1 as a starter and locking up the fact that he’s “the guy” going into 2020. Phillip Lindsay is 42 yards away from eclipsing 1000 yards rushing for the second year in a row, which is important to the team. Finally, they want Noah Fant to end the season on a good note, adding to his already franchise- and record-setting rookie season.
Defensively, Justin Simmons is 11 tackles away from 100 for the season which would be a huge accomplishment. Von Miller is three sacks away from double-digit sacks on the season, which is a tall order. However, if he doesn’t record three sacks, it will be the first season outside of 2013, when he only played nine games after tearing his ACL, that he doesn’t accomplish this feat. Von Miller also doesn’t have a single forced fumble, fumble recovery, interception or touchdown on the season, which would be a career first for him as well.
The Broncos have an opportunity to end the season on their home field, to provide the fans with energy and hope for 2020, and to show that this team has the making of a playoff team. The Broncos will have close to $70 million in cap space, 12 draft picks, five of which are in the first three rounds, and one season to fix the cap situation. The Broncos are the second-youngest team in the NFL this year, and ending the season on a high note will definitely energize them for next year.
Pick Center has the Raiders favored by 3.5 points with an over/under of 41 points. I believe the Broncos will win this game, breaking the spread, and they will do so in a dominant manner. I think this team is thirsty for dominance and their leaders are desperate to climb out of the basement of the AFC West.
Keys to this game defensively will be to limit the running backs as they have been successful in Josh Jacobs’s absence. The team needs to be engaged, accountable, and disciplined as it pertains to stopping the run and containing Darren Waller, who is a 1,000-yard receiver this season. Sacks, turnovers, and negative plays, as always, are the keys to this defense’s success.
Offensively, Drew Lock will continue to develop and take what the defense gives him. Last week, the Lions’ defense positioned itself to make Lock surgically move down the field, leading to multiple scoring drives. This week, it is up to Lock to determine how the Raiders will choose to play him. The team has really elevated their play to support Lock and last week, DaeSean Hamilton and the running game helped Lock to succeed. The offensive line has been outright good over the last four weeks, so continued good play from that unit will be absolutely crucial for team success.
Prediction: Broncos 31, Raiders 16
