The Denver Broncos (6-8) travel to Oakland to play the Raiders (3-11) in the last Monday night game of the year and in what may also turn out to be the last NFL game ever played in that city.
With both teams already eliminated from playoff contention and playing for nothing but pride these two teams will resort to their historic rivalry to motivate themselves as they clash in what is otherwise a pretty much meaningless matchup.
This game will feature some players are trying to break a few records, while others are basically playing for a spot in next year’s teams after disastrous and disappointing seasons for both franchises.
Last week the Cleveland Browns beat the Broncos 17-16, breaking an 11-game losing streak to Denver that dated all the way back to the 1990 season; while the Raiders lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 30-16 in Ohio.
With the loss to Cleveland the Broncos have now failed to score 24 or more points in a game for six straight weeks.
The Broncos, 3-4 on the road this season, hope to go back to their winning ways against an Oakland team they have dominated in the last few years. Denver has won 11 of their last 14 against Oakland, including a 20-19 victory in Week 2 in Denver this season.
The Raiders’ problems begin with their defense, as they are ranked last in the NFL in points allowed as they allow an average of 29.86 points per game and have failed to hold an opponent to under 20 points in a game this season. Furthermore, they own the defense that allows the most passing yards per play in the league.
The Broncos will need to commit to their ground attack if they want to win as the Raiders also rank dead last in the league in run defense as they allow over 146 rushing yards per game.
Sticking to the run early and playing the offense off of it will help set up the Broncos’ play-action passing and open up opportunities for Denver’s receivers later in the game.
The Broncos will try to stop running back Philip Lindsay and force Case Keenum to beat them as he’s yet to have a game with a quarterback rating of over 100.
Derek Carr must have a big game for the Raiders as he’s the key to their attack. Even if the defense fuels off the crowd to stymie the Broncos, the Raiders will need to score at least over 20 points to win and they won’t be able to do that if Carr doesn’t have a big game.
Fortunately for Oakland the Broncos pass defense ranks 25th in the league, allowing over 257 yards per game, and Carr is having a decent year. This season Carr has passed for 3,967 yards, 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions, none of them after week 4.
Look for Carr to have a good game although it may not be enough to win it. The result of this game will depend a lot on whether the Raiders, and mainly their defense, can feed of the crowd to play better football to defeat their most bitter rivals in what could be the Oakland Coliseum’s parting shot.
If the Broncos lose tonight, they will produce the first back-to-back losing seasons since 1971-1972.
