Broncos-Raiders Storylines

The Denver Broncos are back at home again this weekend to take on the much hated Oakland Raiders.  Denver is coming off now two weeks in a row where they come into the fourth quarter trailing by double digits and attempt a late fourth quarter comeback.  But in each of the two games, the late effort was there, but it was not enough as the Broncos are sitting at 1-2 coming into this divisional game.  This will be a good chance for Denver to get back on the saddle as they continue the brutal start to their season.

The Broncos will be going up against former defensive coordinator and now current Raiders head coach Dennis Allen.  Allen, along with Broncos offensive coordinator Mike McCoy were some of the hotter prospects of coaching candidates in the offseason.  Of the two, Allen was hired away from the Broncos and now is at the helm for the Raiders.  Allen will be facing a offense that is in no way, shape or form the same type of offense that we saw here in Denver last season.  Denver for the better part of last season ran the option read offense.  Now, with QB Peyton Manning in charge of the Bronco offense, this is an entirely new looking style of offense that Allen has to prepare for.  Having Allen on their staff last season, the Broncos know his tendencies, so this could become a chess match as both the Raiders and Broncos have a little "insight" on what the opposing coach may be thinking.

Denver has the luck of playing the Raiders now, a team that is decimated in the secondary.  Manning will get his first dose of the AFC West competition from a Bronco perspective this week.  The Broncos have had luck with their no-huddle offense through most the season.  If Denver catches Oakland in a situation where they have multiple matchups in their favor against the secondary, look for them to run that no-huddle to exploit the matchups as often as they can.

The Raider offense continues their trend of Jekyll and Hyde this season.  Against the Pittsburgh Steelers and Sand Diego Chargers, QB Carson Palmer boasted a completion percentage of 70, four touchdowns to one interception with a QB rating over 94.  But against the inferior defenses, such as the Miami Dolphins, his completion percentage was at 50, threw for a pick and a score and had a QB of 74.4.  A bigger issue with the Raiders offense is the running game.  He's got 167 yards on the season through 44 carries.  Aside from his 64 yard TD run, hes got 103 yards on 43 carries, good for 2.4 yard per touch.  This offense is now being lead by Gregg Knapp, who also a O.C. from 2007-2008, Run DMC's worst years in the league.  Under Knapp, the Raiders employ the zone-blocking scheme, but while he has been gone, they Raiders went with power blocking.  During that time, he ran for 2128 yards, held a 4.83 yard average and scoring 12 TD's.  This offense is also going through a transformation, it will be interesting to see how well they can adapt as the season goes along.

-Josh Reising

Twitter: @Josh_Reising