The Las Vegas Raiders should be celebrating. They’re 2-2 instead of 1-3. Instead, it feels like they are in freefall with drama circling the team.
There’s a lot of drama surrounding Las Vegas Head Coach Antonio Pierce. There’s also a lot of drama surrounding the eventual trade of superstar wide receiver Davante Adams. There’s also the fact that currently 16 players are listed on the team’s injured list and one of them is Maxx Crosby.
The Broncos have lost eight straight games to the Las Vegas Raiders. They haven’t beaten them since 2019 when they were the Oakland Raiders. They’re wearing their 1977 throwback uniforms and hosting Alumni Week in hopes of reversing the tide.
Passing Game Needs To Show Something
This is going to be one of the most critical junctures for the Las Vegas Raiders. With the massive absence of Adams last week, the passing game struggled to the tune of 130 yards. Jakobi Meyers, Tre Tucker, and the others will need to step it up. NFL teams are not going to win a lot of games where they only go out and throw for 130 yards in the year 2024, though last week proved to be an exception to that idea.
Brock Bowers needs to be the main focus of the passing game moving forward. Without Adams, Bowers needs to get the lion’s share of targets moving forward. As the team’s top draft pick, he’s proven to be an elite-level tight end already in such a short time. It’s time for Bowers to be the focal point of the Las Vegas Raiders offense. Get him the football and watch him work.
Bo Nix Must Go Down Hard
The Denver Broncos are starting rookie quarterback Bo Nix from Oregon. This season has seen the typical struggle of most rookie quarterbacks in the league for Nix. Nix managed to win a game last week where he only threw for 60 yards. He also connected for his first career touchdown to Cortland Sutton in the game’s only touchdown. It was a sloppy game but he got the job done.
Crosby is trying to play this Sunday despite having a high ankle sprain. Last week, he missed the first game in his career even dating back to college. Crosby went from playing 100 percent of snaps the first few weeks of the season to missing an entire game. Without him, the rest of the defense stepped up. Regardless if Crosby is on the field, they will need a repeat defensive performance to win in Denver.
‘AP’ Needs to Keep Out the Noise
There’s a massive amount of white noise surrounding the Las Vegas Raiders. The Adams trade drama has been incredibly deafening. In addition, former team executive Michael Lombardi attempted to stir up something between the team and Crosby while on the “Pat McAfee Show.” Another new distraction is Pierce’s punishment from the NCAA for COVID-19 recruiting violations from his time at Arizona State.
None of this is productive towards a winning environment. While certain players on the team like Crosby can recall the 2021 season where they made a miracle playoff run, the majority of the team can’t say the same. They are trying to build a culture of winning once again, and distractions like this can only serve to divide the team. It will be up to Pierce to keep the team focused on Denver.
Prediction:
Despite everything, I don’t see the Las Vegas Raiders losing this one. Crazier things have happened in this rivalry of course, but the Raiders have all the momentum right now. Even though both teams are 2-2 at the moment, it feels like the Raiders have everything going their way whenever they play the Denver Broncos. They’ve won eight straight matchups, and fans can fully expect a ninth straight.
It’s going to be a typical AFC West game. Fans watching this one are going to see hard hits, a lot of fights, and two teams filled with players who are heavily motivated by the hatred they have for the other team. Denver has a lot of emotion heading into this one but it won’t be enough. Unfortunately for “Broncos Country,” expect another memorable moment for the Las Vegas Raiders as they win a close one.
Las Vegas Raiders: 24 Denver Broncos: 21
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