NFL Week 10: Denver Broncos(3-5) @ Las Vegas Raiders(5-3)

[HunterNRoss]

VS

Location: Allegiant Stadium
Date: 11/15/20
Time: 1:05 PM PST

Players to Watch

Passing

VS
Drew Lock: 1240 Passing / 56.54 Comp % / 6 TD / 6 INT
Derek Carr: 2002 Passing / 69.77 Comp % / 16 TD / 2 INT

Rushing

VS
Melvin Gordon: 393 Rushing / 4.1 YPA / 4 TD | 87 Receiving / 4.4 YPR / 1 TD
Phillip Lindsay: 310 Rushing / 5.9 YPA / 1 TD | 14 Receiving / 7 YPR /0 TD
Josh Jacobs: 588 Rushing / 3.7 YPA / 6 TD | 125 Receiving / 6.6 YPR / 0 TD
Devontae Booker: 223 Rushing / 6.8 YPA / 1 TD | 60 Receiving / 7.5 YPR / 0 TD

Receiving

VS
Jerry Jeudy: 484 Receiving / 16.1 YPR / 2 TD
Noah Fant: 349 Receiving / 10.9 YPR / 2 TD
Darren Waller: 394 Receiving / 7.9 YPR / 4 TD
Hunter Renfrow: 369 Receiving / 13.7 YPR / 2 TD

Defensive

VS
Justin Simmons: 42 Solo Tackles / 3 INT
A.J. Johnson: 38 Solo Tackles / 1 Sack / 1 Force Fumble
Bradley Chubb: 17 Solo Tackles / 5 Sacks / 1 Force Fumble
Johnathan Abram: 31 Solo Tackles / 1 INT
Nick Kwiatkoski: 25 Solo Tackles / 1 Force Fumble
Maxx Crosby: 10 Solo Tackle / 5 Sack

[MackAttack88]

I thought Crosby's 45 sacks were impressive until I saw that Chubb has 455 sacks. LOL

[HunterNRoss]

I thought Crosby's 45 sacks were impressive until I saw that Chubb has 455 sacks. LOL

fixed it. Not sure how that happened twice

[MackAttack88]

fixed it. Not sure how that happened twice

No problem. Thanks for the info as always.

Time to start that playoff run. Got to start defending our home turf. 4-1 on the road but only 1-2 at home.

[dbacknick]

Hopefully they won't be looking ahead to KC. Denver is similar to LA. If we let up, it could wind up in the loss column. I think we get it done 31-20. The D gets a little better. I hope we don't rush back our O line. We'll need them next week for sure.

[Switch]

Dub

[RaiderLakersA's]

We SHOULD win this handily, but not going to take any team for granted. Raiders 25 - Donkeys 17. Ruggs scores the winning TD.

[Wolfe-Raider]

i thought crosby's 45 sacks were impressive until i saw that chubb has 455 sacks. Lol

rlmao

[Wolfe-Raider]

Let's GOOOOOOOOOO Raiders!

34-20 Raiders win.

[mmbt]

We SHOULD win this handily, but not going to take any team for granted.

That's the thing with this team ... we have overwhelming strengths and weaknesses, not a lot of middle ground. So we can literally beat any team in the league by virtue of our strengths. Yet we can't rule out bad teams being able to hang in there against us and steal one due to our weaknesses.

I do like that there's an identity though (punishing OL/RBs, good multi-level passing game). It's better than just being "meh" everywhere.

[Wolfe-Raider]

That's the thing with this team ... we have overwhelming strengths and weaknesses, not a lot of middle ground. So we can literally beat any team in the league by virtue of our strengths. Yet we can't rule out bad teams being able to hang in there against us and steal one due to our weaknesses.

I do like that there's an identity though (punishing OL/RBs, good multi-level passing game). It's better than just being "meh" everywhere.

Well said.

[RaiderLakersA's]

That's the thing with this team ... we have overwhelming strengths and weaknesses, not a lot of middle ground. So we can literally beat any team in the league by virtue of our strengths. Yet we can't rule out bad teams being able to hang in there against us and steal one due to our weaknesses.

I do like that there's an identity though (punishing OL/RBs, good multi-level passing game). It's better than just being "meh" everywhere.

Well, yeah, the team's identity is basically a standard template for a Gruden-coached Raiders team. You could probably say the same thing about the first Raiders group he coached over a decade ago -- rock solid OL and running game, short and intermediate passing game that at times seems unstoppable and a defense that has just enough question marks at some positions that you know you won't be able to consistently shut down the opposing team.

I'll give Gruden credit for somewhat evolving over the years, but it's not like Andy Reid, who definitely became a much better play caller going from Philly to KC than Gruden did going from Raiders to Tampa back to the Raiders. He might get there, but he's not there yet.

[mmbt]

Well, yeah, the team's identity is basically a standard template for a Gruden-coached Raiders team. You could probably say the same thing about the first Raiders group he coached over a decade ago -- rock solid OL and running game, short and intermediate passing game that at times seems unstoppable and a defense that has just enough question marks at some positions that you know you won't be able to consistently shut down the opposing team.

I would say the one thing that's better this go around is the deep passing attack is better. Back then it was Jett a few times a year with a deep one. Agholor + Ruggs is just more consistently threatening, and that's reflected in Carr having 8 passes of 40+ yards, which is only one behind two other guys for the league lead (and really he's just barely missed on a few that would have put him over the top). Granted DC just has a better arm for it than Gannon did, so maybe it was personnel that hindered Gruden before, but I suspect it's more than that.

The mere fact that they went after Ruggs rather than Jeudy or Lamb in the draft suggests some change in Gruden's approach. The old Gruden wouldn't have passed up on the more possession oriented WR in lieu of the speedster, as he was almost exclusively about stretching horizontally. His core philosophy remains, but he's definitely evolved some.

[RaiderLakersA's]

Granted DC just has a better arm for it than Gannon did, so maybe it was personnel that hindered Gruden before, but I suspect it's more than that.

Can't blame Gannon's arm there. I mean look at what he did the year Jon left for Tampa. Gannon was setting all kinds of passing records, and I think that's largely because they ditched Gruden's more conservative playcalling, took off the harness, opened the barn door, and let the mustang run free for a change. I think Gruden could do something similar with Carr now, if the two of them weren't so cautious.

[mmbt]

Can't blame Gannon's arm there. I mean look at what he did the year Jon left for Tampa. Gannon was setting all kinds of passing records, and I think that's largely because they ditched Gruden's more conservative playcalling, took off the harness, opened the barn door, and let the mustang run free for a change. I think Gruden could do something similar with Carr now, if the two of them weren't so cautious.

Post-Gruden Gannon had more attempts, but I don't recall there necessarily being a ton more deep throws. Just less emphasis on the run and more reliance on the pass (and thus more pass attempts, passing yards, and passing TDs). This is all just off memory so I could be wrong, but my impression is that this year DC is taking deep shots a lot more often than Gannon ever did.