The Las Vegas Raiders play at the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. Here are five keys to victory for the Raiders:
Make Bo Nix uncomfortable:
The Broncos’ second-year quarterback hasn’t been great for large chunks of games. However, he does get hot when it’s needed. So, the Raiders must get after Nix and force him into some mistakes before he gets into a groove.
Don’t be sloppy on offense:
We all know Raiders’ quarterback Geno Smith has thrown 11 interceptions and is prone to making big mistakes. That can’t happen against the Broncos’ strong defense. The Raiders can’t help the Broncos with dumb, sloppy mistakes.
Brock, Brock, Brock:
Brock Bowers quickly reminded the world how important he is to the Raiders’ offense when he returned in Week 9 from a knee injury that kept him out of the past three games and that that hampered him since Week 1. Bowers had 12 catches for 127 yards and became the team’s first tight end since 1983 (Todd Christensen) to catch three touchdown passes in Week 9 in a 30-29 loss to the Jaguars. Bowers is a special player. The Raiders need to feed him as much as possible in this game and in every game.
Be careful in the fourth quarter:
The Broncos have been creating magic in the fourth quarter this season. They outscored the Houston Texans 11-0 in Week 9 to spur the win and of course, in Week 7, they scored all 33 of their points in the fourth quarter to be a the New York Giants. So, if this game is close in the final 15 minutes, the home team will be playing with a lot of confidence.
Get off the field on defense:
The defense must improve from Week 9. The Raiders’ tackled poorly against Jacksonville and it helped to keep them on the field. The Jaguars were 9 of 16 on third down and were 3 for 3 on fourth round. They held the ball for more than 42 minutes in the game that went almost the full possible 70 minutes. The defense has to get Nix and company off the field at a better rate.
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