September 6, 2008
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders: Raider season week 1 preview
The Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos have a rivalry that dates back to the earliest days of the AFL despite Lane Kiffin's protestations to the contrary. The Broncos and Raiders have combined for over two thirds of the AFC west titles since the merger in 1970, and this game begins both teams quest to pad their totals. The Broncos have had the Raiders number during the Shanahan era as he owns a 20-6 record over the Raiders, but this isn't recent Raider teams. In fact, Kiffin beat the Broncos once last season and came within a controversial late time out and a few inches on a field goal attempt from getting the sweep. The Raider Nation will be in full throat as they have been getting ready for this game since it was announced in April.
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders
All Time Record: Raiders lead 54-39-2
Last meeting: 12-2-07 Oakland, CA. Denver 20 Oakland 34
When the Raiders have the ball: Look for the Raiders primary attack to be on the ground with a one two punch from Justin Fargas and first round draft choice Darren McFadden. In their two meetings last season, the Raiders had been able to run the ball quite effectively against Denver and look for more of the same. Denver's run defense looks to continue to be a weak spot the Raiders can exploit. The passing game could be a bit iffy, with there being questions about the offensive line's ability to pass protect and depth at receiver. Look for the Raiders rushing game to carry them.
When the Broncos have the ball:
The Raiders rush defense has been a question for several years. The Broncos' rushing attack is not what it used to be. For years they were able to find guys off the street and turn them into 1000 yard backs, but their offensive line has decayed. Jay Cutler will be expected to win games through the air, but his top target Brandon Marshall of the McDonald's bag fame will be suspeneded for this game. If the Broncos have to air it out, that will play into the strength of the Raiders defense.
The Raiders should win this game. Fargas and McFadden should both have big days on the ground, with the JaMarcus Russell to Zach Miller connection doing just enough to keep the Broncos defense honest.
Prediction: Denver Broncos 13 Oakland Raiders 24
A blast from the past:
[youtube]HMyMPEFE2i0[/youtube]
Discussion
22 Comments on "Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders: Raider season week 1 preview"
#1
Posted by Umer Waris, September 6, 2008 5:15 AM
Great and concise, Pat.
On the contrary, the Broncos Run defense seemd to have gotten much better considering how they stopped the first team offense of Dallas in the preseason.
This should be an easy win with Marshall suspended.
Hopefully pass protection will be better and run stopping will be a higher priorty. Dont forget that Selvin Young, an undrafted rookie last year, rushed for 700 something yards.
#2
Posted by Thoughts from the Dark Side: Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders: Raider season week 1 preview | The R, September 6, 2008 7:38 AM
[...] Read more. Posted in Commentary | [...]
#3
Posted by LDizzle, September 6, 2008 1:00 PM
Patrick thank you for putting that video up. I NEVER tired of seeing that catch. It always makes me happy. And it was a win IN DENVER IN THE SNOW. Curry has been my boy every since.
#4
Posted by KUSHMAN, September 6, 2008 1:13 PM
good job pat, let the donkey beatdown begin!! finally 2 days away!! yea dizzle really tho that was one of his greatest grabs in his career... but still i like the one last year a little better tho.. with the 2 viking defenderes on both sides.. and his helmet flew off mid air haha.. i know he can do that more often with j-russ and finally get past the 1000 yard mark...
#5
Posted by xobn1050, September 6, 2008 1:47 PM
As for me a Raider fan in the Midwest I can't wait for the game for a few reasons:
1.All the big sports networks are minimizing the Raider passing game. Wouldn't it be great that Russell had a solid game and that Walker played and contributed big with Curry. They should at least show up after being dismissed so quickly by the media.
2. The three DT of the team to just dominate inside and stop Selvin Young, him of the 2,000 yds fame dead on his tracks. They are going against a unproven line with Clady(rookie),Harris(2nd Year) and Kuper(took over for the traded Holland).
3.The LB's have to step up against the run to dispel any thoughts that they can be overpowerde on the run. The more we see Ricky Brown making tackles the better.
Finally some media people are starting to take notice, they still say Denver is the superior team(figures) but they are taking the Raiders for this matchup.
#7
Posted by LDizzle, September 6, 2008 3:29 PM
Patrick your score prediction is nearly identical to mine. I predicted Raiders 20-13
#8
Posted by PortlandRaider, September 6, 2008 3:59 PM
Nice video there.....Ronald F'n Curry...unbelievable..love it...need more of it on Monday night!
I don't think any win is going to be "easy" this year.....if we get an early lead..it seems like we are uncomfortable with it at times..and we need to Finish teams!!!! No prevent defense please...Attack..Blitz..Sack..and Interecept!
Raiders for life!
#9
Posted by pat. T, September 6, 2008 4:52 PM
I just finished watching NFL Total Access & they made Selvin Young the sleeper fantasy stater.. Shows what they think about our run defense!
GO RAIDERS!!!
#10
Posted by KUSHMAN, September 6, 2008 6:01 PM
they will soon be proven wrong.. even if he has a good game... he's pretty much the only weapon they have at this point.. because he wont air out the ball nearly as much w/o brandon "mcy d's" marshall runnin around out there... we are totally going to win this game 20-13 ... i have a lot of confidence that they'll stop young in his tracks...
#11
Posted by juice, September 6, 2008 10:30 PM
I like your style Patrick, the score sounds about right. Considering how Oakland played against the Ponies in both matchups last year I expect a big day for the Silver & Black. Don't know where the "analysts" are getting off saying that the Ponies are so good. They have solid corners, but the remaining nine defenders with the exception of D.J. Williams is suspect. They couldn't stop the run and better than we could last year. What perplexes me is why is every freaking "expert" has such a hard on for Jay Cutler. I don't know how many stories I've read proclaiming him as "the next great quarterback". Yeah he's mobile and has a strong arm, but he's inconsistent. I can't say he's even on the same level as his predecessor Jake Plummer. If anything he's a slightly more consistent version of Kyle Boller. Oh well, our defense is going to give him fits and those "experts" that I alluded to earlier will finally take notice to how improved this team really is. Go Raiders!
#12
Posted by BigSarge87, September 6, 2008 10:43 PM
You guys are up in the night. Denver's starting defense in the preseason has absolutely shutdown some of the best teams in the league (See Dallas and Green Bay). Their defensive scheme that was vulnerable to the run has been replaced and is a completely different this year. Jay Cutler has been unstoppable in the preseason, and even though Marshall is out, he still has many decent targets to get the ball too. Young has been decent but look out for Hall and Aldridge to step it up as they both have looked great this preseason also. Get used to dissapointment guys, it's going to be another long year for you.
#13
Posted by LDizzle, September 6, 2008 11:02 PM
BigSarge my advice to you is don't put so much stock in the preseason. And you should worry about the Donkeys having a long year because they certainly will. Even if the Broncos and Raiders were on the same plane, the Raiders have an easier schedule so they would STILL come out ahead. The jaskasses will barely hold off the Chiefs as the worst team in the AFC West.
#14
Posted by BigSarge87, September 6, 2008 11:17 PM
LDizzle (the Snoop thing is a little old, get a new hero) my advice to you is that you can put a lot more stock in how your starters look in preseason (justified by a Sportcenter story last week) then you can in strength of schedule assessments that rate teams that haven't played yet. And sorry about putting Denver on the same plane as Oakland, that's not fair. In the last ten years, Oakland's had WAY more top ten picks in the draft than Denver, how do they keep doing that? They're on a completely different plane than Denver. LOL
#15
Posted by LDizzle, September 7, 2008 6:53 PM
"Oakland's had WAY more top ten picks in the draft than Denver"? Is that the best you got "BigSarge"? Really? I have a couple better questions for you; How many Superbowls have the Broncos been to in this Millenium? How many playoff wins have the Broncos had in this Millenium? The answer to both is the same: ZERO. For the Raiders it is 1 SB and 5 playoff wins (the only other AFC west team that has ANY is the Chargers from last year). So you can talk all you want about top ten picks but the fact is that without any playoff wins, all the Broncos did was give themselves lower draft picks every year. Since that is your team's biggest accomplishment I suppose you better hang your hat on it. And from the school of "what have you done for me lately"; who won the last meeting between these two teams? The answer is the same team that came within a missed field goal of SWEEPING the Broncos sorry asses last year. That would be the RAIDERS. So you have any other meaningless stats to throw at me?
And I couldn't give a rats ass what you think of my name. I don't change names to get style points.
#16
Posted by BigSarge87, September 7, 2008 9:07 PM
Umm, where to begin... Your digging yourself a big Black Hole. Here's a stat for ya, regular season win loss records since 2000 (I'll even include the little bit of success you had SEVEN years ago); Raiders: 52-76 Broncos: 77-51. And you need to do a little more research there snoop, Denver won a playoff game against the Pats in 2006 (four years after the Raiders last winning season). Oh, and forshizzle dizzle, Oakland beat Denver once last year, that means since 2000 (which seams to be your significant point of reference) Denver has beat the Raiders 11 out of 16 times. I love Shannahan.
BUT NONE OF THIS MATTERS! One thing we can both agree on is that the only measure of a successful season is a Superbowl WIN. Which neither of us have been even close to recently. In no way do I think the Broncos have been a good team, but there's no NFL fan outside of Oakland or north of Mexico (not that I'm stereotyping) that will agree Oakland has been 'on a different plane' than Denver since 2000. Sorry, your wrong there. Suck it up and admit that your team has been horrible but they are getting better. Same as Denver. By the way, the winner of Monday night's game will be the first leader of the AFC West this year!! Sweet!
#18
Posted by LDizzle, September 7, 2008 10:55 PM
We still beat you last. And last time I checked, they give out a trophy when you win the conference. You still can't talk about anything but the regular season which only matters if you can win some playoff games. You can also go ahead and keep saying I am diggin myself a "black hole" we all know that isn't true. I am burying you though. So there is a hole in this. And not just the pucker stink hole you are talking out of.
#19
Posted by BigSarge87, September 8, 2008 4:06 PM
LDizzle, although, as a Broncos fan I am obligated by law to hate you, I respect you for your dedication as a fan and thank you for your spirited debate. Mostly, win or lose, I'm just thankful football season is here. Go Broncos!!!
#20
Posted by Maples, September 8, 2008 9:34 PM
the raiders have just established themselves as the worst team in the leage and its not even half time yet.
#21
Posted by Maples, September 8, 2008 9:59 PM
Al Davis has to be considering shoot himself in the face after these past 3 quarters.
I must say as a Raiders fan of 20+ yrs i almost would rather shit razor blades than watch another game.
I guess I need to stop lying to myself and just except the fact that the raider future is very bleak.
#22
Posted by Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders: Raider season week 1 preview - Oakland Raiders Forum, September 14, 2008 8:05 PM
[...] Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders: Raider season week 1 preview The Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos have a rivalry that dates back to the earliest days of the AFL despite Lane Kiffin’s protestations to the contrary. The Broncos and Raiders have combined for over two thirds of the AFC west titles since the merger in 1970, and this game begins both teams quest to pad their totals. Thoughts from the Dark Side | MVN - an Oakland Raiders independent news, commentary, analysis, and m... [...]
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