Oakland Raiders: 5 takeaways from win over Denver Broncos
By John Buhler
The Oakland Raiders improved to 5-6 on the year with a narrow victory over the rival Denver Broncos on Sunday. Here are five takeaways from the Week 12 win.
It wasn’t easy, but the Oakland Raiders got a much-needed win on Sunday afternoon. They improved to 5-6 on the year after handling their AFC West rival Denver Broncos, 21-14. Oakland is a game back of the Kansas City Chiefs in the divisional race. Denver has lost seven straight and is now 3-8 on the year.
For a game that featured two struggling teams, we sure got an exciting one on Sunday. Oakland would take a 14-0 lead into halftime. The Raiders benefited from an over his skis Paxton Lynch at quarterback for the Broncos. However when he hurt his ankle, that forced normal starter Trevor Siemian in there and he started carving up the Oakland secondary.
Since this was a win for the Raiders, most of the takeaways from the Oakland perspective were positive. That being said, there were more than a handful of troubling things that bubbled to the surface in this game. Siemian would have probably led the Broncos to a victory had he played the whole game. Oakland might be without its two best receivers in Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree next Sunday versus the New York Giants at home.
But a win is a win and the Raiders should be happy to have it. They are still very much alive in the AFC playoff picture, both in the division and as a potential second wild card team. Here are the five biggest takeaways from Oakland’s seven-point victory over Denver on Sunday afternoon in Week 12.
The Browns might be the only team worse in the AFC than the Broncos.
It may not be the best year in Raiders’ franchise history, but at least the Raiders aren’t in the position of the Broncos. Denver is in really bad shape after losing its eighth game of the season to fall to 3-8 on the year. This was Denver’s seventh straight loss. The last time they won, it was to the Raiders at home back on Oct. 1 in Week 4.
Not being able to appropriately replace Peyton Manning has revealed several problems with this usually dominant AFC West team. Lynch, Siemian and Brock Osweiler don’t have what it takes to keep the Broncos afloat in the AFC going forward. However, can we trust general manager John Elway to draft somebody better?
Lynch was his guy in the 2016 NFL Draft, taking him in the first round out of Memphis. Denver has not drafted a Pro Bowler since Von Miller in the 2011 NFL Draft. While Denver had hit in free agency when Manning was its quarterback, a lack of depth on both sides of the ball has this as honestly the second-worst team in the AFC. Only the Cleveland Browns are worse and they are winless.
For somebody to be good, somebody has to be bad and the Broncos stink. They will be picking in the top-five of the upcoming draft and they need to. This roster needs a massive overhaul. Not sure if they have the right coaching staff in place or the right man making the picks. Oakland isn’t in great shape, but Denver’s situation is a rough one.