Peyton Manning: Raiders' worst nightmare

Earlier this season, the Broncos made a visit to Oakland to play the Raiders. The game started uncharacteristically slow for Denver, who were down 10-6 with 3:00 remaining in the second quarter; however, the contest ended as most games of late against the Raiders have, with the Broncos triumphing in a dominant fashion, winning 41-17 at the O.co Coliseum.

The result was typical of recent Denver-Oakland games, marking the Broncos' sixth straight victory against their rivals. Never before have the Broncos won more than seven straight games against the Raiders (1997-2000), and they now stand one game away from doing so. The common denominator in those seven games was a great quarterback, John Elway. So who was the common denominator in the most recent five games against the Oakland Raiders? Another great quarterback, Peyton Manning.

In 10 career games against the Raiders, Manning holds a dominant 8-2-0 record, and his 5-0-0 tenure with the Broncos has been even more impressive. Since Peyton's arrival in Denver, the Broncos have achieved the following results in their Oakland match-ups:

• September 30, 2012: Denver Broncos 37 vs. Oakland Raiders 6
• December 6, 2012: Denver Broncos 26 @ Oakland Raiders 13
• September 23, 2013: Denver Broncos 37 vs. Oakland Raiders 21
• December 29, 2013: Denver Broncos 34 @ Oakland Raiders 14
• November 9, 2014: Denver Broncos 41 @ Oakland Raiders 17

The Broncos averaged 35 points in those five games against their most bitter rival, including 19.2 per game directly from Manning touchdown passes. In their five Manning-led Raiders match-ups, the Broncos have averaged a 20.8-point margin of victory. The team record has been incredibly impressive since Manning's arrival, yet Peyton's own personal prowess has been even more extraordinary.

In five games, Manning has amassed 16 touchdown passes (8.74% TD rate) and just three interceptions (1.64% INT rate), and those touchdowns aren't coming at the end of short drives. Peyton has averaged 325.6 passing yards per game in those five starts, despite yielding 48 snaps to Brock Osweiler after gaining substantial leads (42.1% of Osweiler's career snaps have come vs. Oakland).

All of these stats are downright fantastic, but the most impressive one may be Manning's 78.7% completion percentage against the Raiders since he joined the Broncos.

Since the Broncos joined the NFL in 1970, not a single quarterback has averaged more than 250 passing yards per game against the Oakland Raiders, no quarterback has a higher TD% or higher touchdown-to-interception ratio, just two quarterbacks have lower interception rates, and no Broncos quarterback has had a completion percentage within 10 percentile points of Manning.

It is most definitely worth noting that the quarterbacks of the 1970s, 80s, and early 90s had much stronger opponents in Los Angeles and Oakland to face off against. The winning percentage of the Raiders teams that Manning has faced in Denver are the second lowest behind the Oakland teams that Jay Cutler and Jake Plummer faced.

That being said, Manning has fared better than those quarterbacks despite slightly better teams, and his individual numbers against recent Raiders teams are nonetheless impressive. The table below does not necessarily discount Manning's individual accomplishments and record against Oakland teams, but it does explain the somewhat poorer records of guys like John Elway, Steve Ramsey, and Charley Johnson against Raiders teams of the past.

Manning stands as the only Broncos quarterback to start multiple games against the Raiders and hold a perfect record, a record that he'll put to the test again on Sunday, against an Oakland team that has won three of their last five. Despite their record, Manning should come up with a victory, or else the Broncos are in a ton of trouble heading into the playoffs.

Jake Plummer was two points away from being perfect against the Raiders, losing by just one point in his lone loss against Oakland (7-1-0). Peyton needs three more starts against Oakland to match Jake the Snake's total, which would require him to play in both 2015 games against Oakland in addition to this season's Week 17 contest. With wins in those three games, Manning would officially solidify himself as the most dominant quarterback against the Raiders in Broncos history.

Regardless of the results in those games, though, it's quite possible that Peyton Manning is already exactly that - the most dominant Broncos quarterback the Raiders have ever faced.