It's time to take a look at this week's match-up: the Denver Broncos. The Broncos are coming off a defeat at the hands of the Cardinals 43-13, while the Raiders are coming off a heart-breaking loss on the road to the Jaguars 38-31, where they led most of the game. The Broncos are sure to be motivated to avenge the earlier thrashing the Raiders gave them in Denver. The weather looks to be wet on Sunday, which should make for a tough track to get footing on. This always favors the offenses, especially the running game, so look for battles in the trenches to decide this one. Let's take a look at the match-ups:
Raiders offense vs. Broncos defense
This is a match-up of strength versus weakness. The Raiders are 14th overall on offense, 3rd in rushing. The Broncos are 28th on defense and 31st against the run. These are not numbers you would like to see if you are the Broncos going on the road on a sloppy turf. The Broncos should get a heavy dose of Bush and McFadden, much like what they did the last meeting. If there's one thing we all know, division games are tough to win no matter the team or the record. Last game doesn't mean much in deciding what happens on Sunday.
Advantage: Raiders
Raiders defense vs. Broncos offense
The Broncos have started to find their running game over the last couple of weeks and has helped balance them out on offense. They are still pass-heavy and are ranked 5th in the NFL in pass offense. They are also 10th overall, but only 29th in rushing. The Raiders, meanwhile, are 14th overall and 7th against the pass. The Raiders statistically match-up very well in almost every area. Where the Broncos struggle, the Raiders also struggle. On the flip side, where the Broncos thrive, the Raiders also thrive. Every game this year for the Raiders has come down to who has the most rushing yards. The Raiders are 6-1 when they rush for more yards than their opponent (the only loss coming to the Cardinals, which shouldn't have been a loss if we just make a chip-shot field goal) and 0-6 when their opponents rush for more yards. We'll see if that trend continues and if the Broncos decide to establish the running game.
Advantage: Raiders
Special Teams
The Broncos are about middle of the road in punting and kicking. They have a pretty good punt returner in Royal who has to be accounted for. The Raiders lead the league in Punt Average and Janikowsi leads the AFC in points. In fact, Janikowski will most likely end up with career highs in FG's and points scored. He just needs 2 more FG's and 9 more points the final three games. I was spot-on last week when I said that a Special Teams play would decide the game. It ended up that Jacoby Ford's fumble led to a TD and the last kickoff was returned deep into Raiders territory to set up Jones-Drew's 30 yard TD run. This week won't be as close a game, but still will help decide the outcome.
Advantage: Raiders
Prediction: Raiders 31, Broncos 14
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