While some of the Monday Night pairings leave a little to be desired (another round of Dallas-Washington anyone?), the Broncos in Oakland against the Raiders can be counted on to provide some intense football action. The Oaktown warriors are at 5-1 after back to back road victories against presumed playoff teams (Indianapolis, Philadelphia) while the Broncos most recently escaped with a win at home against the Patriots and are just 4-3 on the year. The "who needs it more" theory would suggest Denver as the likely choice.
Our preference though is to look at the statistics. On the drive side both offenses have had good success and rate among the top in the league. The Raiders have benefitted from Sebastian Janikowski finding his kicking form, and with seasoned veterans handling the ball (Gannon, Garner, Wheatley, Brown and Rice) it is rare that the Silver and Black commits a turnover or makes a basic mistake. Denver meanwhile continues to fight the three-headed running back battle, and has never quite seemed together like they were in week one with McCaffrey as the other wideout.
On the defensive side the Broncos have been comparable overall, but not particularly impressive on the road -- yielding 27 points to San Diego, 34 to Seattle, and 17 to Arizona. The Raiders played their best defensive game of the season last week against the Eagles, and have a not inconsiderable amount of talent on that side of the ball.
The Play-By-Play ratings show a pronounced siding with Oakland, in large part due to a passing offense that is efficient to begin with and is facing a Denver secondary that save for a large number of interceptions would be deemed as suspect.
The head-to-head history tells you that Oakland did lose both games last season, as well as both meetings in 1999. Much has been made of the "angry Mike Shanahan" who has led his Broncos to many wins against former boss Al Davis' squads. We believe though that Denver has somehow lost a little of their spark and that the Raiders are looking to prove they indeed have the upper hand. This is the game that Oakland wants.
With the sudden run of underdogs covering (as well as winning outright) virtually every game in sight, it may seem foolhardy to pick a favorite now. We're confident on the hardy, the fool part remains to be seen.
copied from an internet site
Our preference though is to look at the statistics. On the drive side both offenses have had good success and rate among the top in the league. The Raiders have benefitted from Sebastian Janikowski finding his kicking form, and with seasoned veterans handling the ball (Gannon, Garner, Wheatley, Brown and Rice) it is rare that the Silver and Black commits a turnover or makes a basic mistake. Denver meanwhile continues to fight the three-headed running back battle, and has never quite seemed together like they were in week one with McCaffrey as the other wideout.
On the defensive side the Broncos have been comparable overall, but not particularly impressive on the road -- yielding 27 points to San Diego, 34 to Seattle, and 17 to Arizona. The Raiders played their best defensive game of the season last week against the Eagles, and have a not inconsiderable amount of talent on that side of the ball.
The Play-By-Play ratings show a pronounced siding with Oakland, in large part due to a passing offense that is efficient to begin with and is facing a Denver secondary that save for a large number of interceptions would be deemed as suspect.
The head-to-head history tells you that Oakland did lose both games last season, as well as both meetings in 1999. Much has been made of the "angry Mike Shanahan" who has led his Broncos to many wins against former boss Al Davis' squads. We believe though that Denver has somehow lost a little of their spark and that the Raiders are looking to prove they indeed have the upper hand. This is the game that Oakland wants.
With the sudden run of underdogs covering (as well as winning outright) virtually every game in sight, it may seem foolhardy to pick a favorite now. We're confident on the hardy, the fool part remains to be seen.
copied from an internet site
