Last week, the Mile High Report staff collectively predicted a commanding 26-14 win over the Seattle Seahawks. Instead, the Denver Broncos offense balanced their successes with costly mistakes that kept the game close. That needs to not happen this week.
If the offense plays a clean game, they should blow out their AFC West archrival Oakland Raiders. Together, we predicted a 28-13 home win by Denver to move them to 2-0 on the season.
Here is how we each predicted the final score individually.
Broncos 20, Raiders 13 - Tim Lynch
The Broncos dial back the risk a bit on offense this week, which results in fewer big plays and fewer points. While the mistakes were cut down, they will have to pull out a closer than comfortable win against the lowly Raiders.
It either happens that way or it ends up being another one of those classic hard fought divisional games that we often see in the AFC West regardless of how much better one team is over the other.
Broncos 31, Raiders 13 - Ian St. Clair
If Case Keenum eliminates the turnovers, this is a dangerous team. What makes me excited about the prospects of that is the balance the Broncos had on offense that was rooted in the strong play of the offensive line. If that becomes a consistent theme, watch out. For Denver’s defense, the key, more than covering the tight end, is stopping the run. Make Derek Carr and the Raiders one dimensional to allow Von Miller, Bradley Chubb and the Orange Rush to wreck the game. If Carr doesn’t have time to throw, the lack of coverage on Jared Cook doesn’t matter. Oh, and keep an eye on Marquette King. He could make this game a lot of fun (hopefully we don’t see him that much, though).
Broncos 28, Raiders 10 - Laurie Lattimore-Volkmann
The Broncos will show the NFL that they can cover a tight end by limiting Jared Cook to under 50 yards and just one TD (only because he’s on my fantasy team and he better get a $&%^*#@ touchdown again). And Case Keenum will continue moving the offense downfield, scoring with multiple weapons. Broncos’ defense gets one pick-six; Von Miller and Shaq Barrett each get a sack; Keenum throws TDs to Emmanuel Sanders and Phillip Lindsay; and Royce Freeman gets his first regular season TD. It’s going to be a great day to beat the Raiders.
Broncos 31, Raiders 10 - Jeff Essary
Derek Carr had one good year in his career. Fortunately for him it got him the highest paying contract in the NFL at the time. Since then, Bill Musgrave left, and Carr has a 22/16 TD to INT ratio.
Add in the fact that Jon Gruden has gloriously bungled this offseason, and any result less than a stomping by Denver would be a disappointment.
If Denver can avoid the turnovers that plagued them last week, they should have no problem whipping up on the worst team in football.
Denver’s pass rush will continue their dominant ways against a rookie left tackle.
Broncos 31, Raiders 20 - Pete Baron
The Broncos enter this game as a much more complete team. No longer do we have to hold our breath when something doesn’t go perfectly right because we know our offense can’t come back from even 1 point down. Our front 7 on defense is ferocious and our secondary seems solid with the addition of Adam Jones. If we can use Simmons as safety help for the Raiders’ tight end, or maybe just find a CB like Jones to shadow him all day, I think this game has blowout potential.
However, if we stick to a more traditional gameplay and let the tight ends gash us, much like last week, the score will be far closer than the game really was. I think this game is somewhere in-between with the Broncos enjoying a solid 10+ point victory.
Broncos 27, Raiders 10 - Adam Malnati
The Broncos are the better team in all phases. They should walk away from their Week 2 rivalry game with the Raiders with a win. Chris Harris Jr. will be key to stopping Amari Cooper, but if the defense can bottle him up and limit Marshawn Lynch, there should be no problem winning.
The only concern on the defensive side is the same concern from every game; stopping the tight end. Even with these issues, Denver will have no problems coming away with the victory. The only thing that could derail the Broncos is turnovers. Case Keenum must improve from his 3 interception performance. Turnovers kill momentum, and the offense will need to play cleaner, but that will be no problem.