The strength of the Raiders’ offense seems to be more geared towards the run, but Oakland hasn’t been consistent in this role. They gained 300 yards against the Chiefs in Week 1, but couldn’t put together much of an effort against SD.

That should be week 2 right :)?

For the rest perfect as always! Thank you!

These games historically seem to either be blowouts or realatively close.

Great Chalktalk again HT, thanks.

Now lets cruch those fools and send the raider fans packing. They’re going to regret trading their food stamps to watch the “donkeys” stomp a mud hole in them at home yet again.

That would be my expectations so far, but I find the Oakland team a bit schizophrenic in their performance. I agree with your analysis, but anticipate the offensive game plan evolving a bit more than you discussed, so I anticipate a bit more scoring.. I am pretty confident in our defense vs their offense; I sure hope I am right about that. A collapse against this offense would seem to be a very bad sign for the upcoming games.

Thats a taste fo things to come.
I always worry about the raiders based on history, but based on common sense and this years play, Denver should win this easily.
Better O line, better balance, D’s are equal and I like us better in coaching, special teams and adjustments….with the big difference being the quarterback play.
Orton vs Russell….I will take KO every time…and will in this game too.
Denver by more than 10!

Question though: Isn’t J Lee-Higgins a breakaway threat as a return man? He did well last year. Or is he hurt for this game?

I live in Oakland (though remain a solid Bronco fan) and the thing that is odd to me, and perhaps contributed to the blackout, is the rivalry thing seems very downplayed this season…it is frankly more like if the Broncos were playing the Niners…perhaps with Shanahan gone, the personal venom is missing, but little is made of the historic nature of this rivalry…in fact, my friends who are tRaider fans seem a tad understated this year (typically they are planning for their Super Bowl victory despite the losing records they have enjoyed of late!)…there is genuine concern about the play at QB, and even in the media, this seems to be more like Game 3 than Broncos week….perhaps it is the economy (hammered in NorCal), or perhaps the fan base is weary from years of losing badly….in fact, Shanahan turned this rivalry into a a pretty one sided affair over the last decade or so….hope that McD can do the same….

HT, would this be a good week for Denver to break out a few zone blitzes? We’ve heard reports of Russell being more comfortable throwing down the middle of the field, but there are concerns with his accuracy and reads. Would this be a great time to start dropping the odd lineman/OLB into coverage, with the hope that Russell doesn’t realize what’s happening?

The Raiders didn’t even manage to sell out the game, so the crowd won’t be much of a factor. Even when it’s packed, the Black Hole is pretty easy to silence. Halfhearted fans. Understandable as it may be.

The Broncos players are doing a great job of paying respect to the opposition. Overplaying JaMarcus’ ability, etc. That’s what they’re supposed to do. As fans, though, we can tell it how it is. He’s a clumsy oaf Tackle prospect playing QB. They have two rookies starting at WR. And while the ability to hit a home run is there.. I trust our guys to snuff it out.

JaMarcus’ career numbers against Denver are astounding for a guy who’s flirting with a 50% career completion percentage. Something like 30-40 for 400 yards, 3 touches and no picks. Proof that Shanny and Slowik could make anybody look good. Nolan’s schemes, however, are predicated on pressuring the QB – and as Rich Gannon so succinctly pointed out.. JaMarcus sh*ts the bed when defenders come within a few yards of him.

Raiders defense has really impressed me, and for that reason I expect KnoMo’s coming out party to be delayed another week, but I still expect to get the obligatory chunks of yards and scrounge up some points.

21-13. Us.

Gotta love the honesty of the fans voting for the last option. lol

So we have a trap game here. A team we really SHOULD beat in oakland, followed by a “tougher” team in Dallas. IMO, the biggest storyline for this game is simple: will Denver lay an egg (a la Denver of the past couple years), or will the team take care of business for 60 minutes?

My prediction: It’s business time!

I love reading your articles almost as much as watching the games – they make the games themselves that much more interesting too.

Thank you and rec’d

with this not-being-able-to-watch-sports-on-TV thing. (Although in the case of the Rockies, it may save my health). But I also really want to see if we look good against the Raiders or if it’s gonna be one of those gut-kick games that seemed to characterize us vs. them before. D does look better. O is nothing special but has been getting the job done…

Good job HT, I’ll try to make an appearance in the game thread this week. Was meaning to last week, so of course then my internet died.

Always love to read the chalk talk.

We have to avoid three and outs (consistency) or get some punt return yardage so Loechler does not put us in the hole.

…Knowshon and Stokely missed todays practice.

The Bronco D has yet to face a team that likes to run the ball and has the personnel to do it well. With the Oakland O-line in injury disarray it makes it less of a sure problem, but thus far the Broncos have faced a pass-happy team in the Bengals, and a team that doesn’t have an identity of any type in the Browns. HTs aside that Andra Davis may hold the key to this game could be more accurate than anyone realizes. McFadden and Bush are no laughingstocks, regardless of the rest of the team.

With the Hutt playing as bad as he is and Orton facing a real secondary for the first time this year, I fully expect this game to be decided by the running games – and the Denver’s O-line gets the nod, and the deciding vote.

Guru alluded to this on MHR Radio last night, and I think it’s worth making a big deal out of it.

Taking a look at Football Outsiders drive stats, Denver’s offense is 7th in the league for yards/drive, while being 16th in the league in Drive Success Rate (drives that end in a 1st down or touchdown). The reason they aren’t benefitting more from sustained drives is that they are 29th in the league in starting field position. This struggle could continue come Sunday against Lechler’s leg.

Denver’s defense is top 6 in all drive stat categories, except (you guessed it) in starting field position, where they rank 14th. The defense starting field position is attributable to the offense’s difficulties, and it’s a further testament to how well the D is doing.

In summary, Denver really needs to get the return game going to relieve pressure on both sides of the ball.

Here’s a link, if anybody wants to check it out further: http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/drivestats

Even though I’m a Bronco fan, I think the raiders are going to be a respectable team that cannot be overlooked. I still think we come out with the win though.

Great post and rec’d!

hope some of you remember since I came around frequently in the offseason to see what’s up.

Anywho, Denver is definitely a much better team than KC, but it seems like Oakland plays to the level of their opponent. Looked good against a good team in SD, looked horrible against a horrible team in KC.

The key matchup to me is which Oakland run D shows up. No matter what, this Raiders D won’t give up many points, but they give up plenty of yards. Only 72 yards against the Chargers, but over double that against the Chiefs.

But to me Denver is more like SD in terms of running offense. They don’t have that one guy who’s going to get in your face and tear it up all game. It’s a much more rotation based system with no really elite guy. If the Raiders D plays this running attack like they did SD, then this just became a defensive battle.

I have to think the Raiders D will play like it did versus the Chargers minus the horrible final two or three minutes. It’s at home, the team is fired up (they seemed kinda lax against KC), and they’re coming off a win. The D-Line seals the gaps forcing runs to the outside, where the sheer athleticism of the linebackers kicks in. And you can’t overlook a pretty good set of tacklers at CB in Chris Johnson and Nnamdi Asomugha.

Overall, this will be a nailbiter of a low scoring game. I doubt either team makes it past 17 points. The Raiders just simply don’t give up points very easily, and the offense won’t be scoring many points. One turnover will decide it all, whether that be a pick or two by Huff, or a bad pass to the waiting hands of Dawkins, it all comes down to one turnover.

I think these are two very evenly matched teams, but I have to give the win to the better offense. If Orton can manage to throw the ball before he gets slammed to the ground (this D-Line will get pressure no matter what) then I think Denver will win it 17-13.

I voted for moderate lose because you were talking about Oakland at the last, I didn’t see “Denver” in the block…dah. LOL. I like that “sh*t the bed” notion and if we see brown spots on his bottom then we will know we got him.

..has always been very cool about carrying my Chalk Talk and MHR University pieces on their Denver page (as well as many of our fine writers). Today I see that Chalk Talk not only leads on the Broncos page, but appears on the main NFL page (it still lists next to the Broncos icon, but still, it is NFL page and not just Denver page).

I want to thank SI for the kindness they show in putting up the work of our crew.

HT

Everything I’ve learned here points to what you’ve taught me. I think the raiders need to run the ball or make use of their TE position. On defense, I believe they are formidable or at least closely matched with what our team has done so far. I see the Turn over battle as a vital part of this game, and if the raiders don’t self destruct (penalties)as usual, then it will be closer than many of us think. It IS an away game after all.

I’m new to the site this season (Donkeys fan for 25 years), but I’ve really begun to enjoy your Chalk Talks. They’re high quality, and I’m actually a tough critic having played college ball and followed the game my whole life.
I didn’t hear Guru, but have to agree that in a smash-mouth game between divison rivals it’s ALL about field position. I hope our return teams have something up their sleeves, b/c we really need to improve in this aspect of the game.

I have to say that it was my impression that the Chargers played extremely poorly against the raiders. both their offensive and defensive lines just weren’t up to standard and the Chargers secondary has been vulnerable for the past two years. Cromartie was injured last season, but I’m not sure whey he still isn’t playing well.

I think that this game will go a long way towards answering whether the Chargers played badly or the raiders played well. If the raiders can slow the Broncos, I’ll be impressed. If not, I’ll just recognize that they are much more the team that snuck a win past the Chiefs, who outclassed them in most aspects of the game, than the team that played the Chargers. If OAK doesn’t do well against us, it also bodes well for our performance against SD. There’s a lot riding on this game, to me.

Just my opinion.

from the Charlotte Observer:

DENVER* at OAKLAND: The Broncos* have introduced the asterisk to the NFL standings this year. The Broncos* are 2-0 but because they’ve beaten Cleveland and Cincinnati it doesn’t count as an official 2-0. The asterisk will remain if the Broncos* beat the Black Hole this weekend. Not going to happen. Black Hole 31, Broncos* 21.

What kind of garbage is that? Did they cheat? Should they give back their wins because they won handily in one game and beat a pretty solid team on the road on a last second play in the other? And if they win this week they still have an asterisk? What an a**.