Five questions with Silver & Black Pride: Broncos win again

1) What the heck is going on with Derek Carr?  The dude looks to me on the outside like he's starting to really crap the bed. What's the story behind the inconsistent play in the passing game with him?

It can't really be pinned to one area. On a game by game basis, the issue is not the same. First of all, every quarterback goes through this kind of thing. They show improvement, then defenses catch up to that improvement, and in the process, the quarterback falls back into some old habits under pressure.

One of the Carr's main issues has long been his pocket presence. Early on, his internal timer went off too quickly, causing him to either flee a clean pocket or dump the ball off (whether his outlet was open or not). He has improved in that area, but it still has glitches. Great quarterbacks know where to position themselves in the pocket, when to get rid of the ball, and when to get out of the pocket and reposition themselves or scramble for what you can get. Last week, Carr's main issue was trying to do too much when he didn't have to. He took unnecessary risks and didn't improvise well when his primary target was taken away.

2) We met in Week 5 and Denver eeked out a 16-10 win with a QB who threw the ball to the Silver and Black twice and really didn't do much other than move the ball a bit. What challenges do you see your defense having with Brock Osweiler instead?

You might be better suited to answer that one since you cover him far more closely than I do. In fact, that was one of my questions to you. That guy who intercepted Manning twice is a feller named Charles Woodson. He forced a fumble last week and recovered two, giving him 7 turnovers on the season, which is second in the league. He's still back there.

3) What are the key injuries the Raiders are dealing with and what's the backup situation for those positions look like?

The main injury is to Nate Allen. While he hasn't been great during his time back, he allowed T.J. Carrie to move back to corner, which helped a great deal because it put D.J. Hayden on the bench. Allen has missed practice all week, which means he won't play Sunday. Justin Tuck is out for the season and his replacement rookie Mario Edwards Jr. has played quite well. In fact, I'm not sure they lost anything in the change from a performance standpoint.

4) Michael Crabtree was signed to a nice contract. What were your thoughts on that move?

Great move. He has been everything the Raiders hoped they would get from him this season. He earned a long term deal, and the Raiders made sure it was them who gave it to him. They are set to have A LOT of cap room again this offseason, so they can definitely afford it. It allows the team to focus on bulking up the defensive side of the ball in free agency and the draft.

5) What are your keys to the game and score prediction?

The Raiders will go after Brock Osweiler. He may not be a rookie, but he is still just getting his first starts. The Raiders have now had a few games to scout him and find his weaknesses. And the best way to expose any QB's weaknesses are to apply pressure. It also will help take the pressure off of the Raiders' weak secondary. Broncos 27, Raiders 10.