Key Las Vegas Raiders in Week 4 against the Denver Broncos
By Preston Seyl
The Raiders have a pivotal game coming up against the Denver Broncos in the hope to get a win to try and turn around their 0-3 start.
The Las Vegas Raiders went into this season with high hopes, and after making the playoffs last season, and adding more talent in the offseason, there was reason to believe this could be a special year. However, an 0-3 start has put an end to that conversation and entering Week 4 against Denver, the goal is to just stop the bleeding.
With that being said here are three Raiders to watch against the Denver Broncos.
Key Las Vegas Raiders in Week 4 against the Denver Broncos
Maxx Crosby
Maxx Crosby has had to carry the Raiders defensive line in getting to the quarterback, as he has two sacks and 16 pressure on the season. All-pro Chandler Jones has zero sacks with seven pressures, with an overall grade of 52.5 per PFF.
Crosby will always be a player to watch, as he is a premier player, and he always makes his presence known whether that be in the pass rush or run support.
Madd Maxx needs a big game, making Russell Wilson uncomfortable in the pocket, and getting him off his spot will cause problems for the offense. If Wilson can stay clean in the pocket it could be a long day for the secondary.
Mack Hollins
The surprise of Mack Hollins is a great sight to see as the rest of the wide receiver corps are struggling. Hollins and Derek Carr seem to have a great connection with a breakout game against Tennessee Titans.
Defenses through three games have made it an emphasis to limit Davante Admans in any way they can and they have achieved that goal in the past two games.
The absence of Adams has given Hollins the opportunity to show the coaching staff what he can do. Hollins torched Tennessee and was a big reason that the Raiders offense was moving the ball, and his production as WR2 is paramount going forward.
Josh McDaniels
The biggest question mark through three games is Josh McDaniels playcalling, which has been head-scratching at times. The lack of run game in overtime against the Arizona Cardinals in a short yardage scenario proved to be the death nail, as they could have run it to set up a field goal to win the game.
McDaniels has not been efficient in his play calling, he is too vanilla with the inability to get the best out of his players so far. He needs a great game plan that involves the run game and the passing game to get his weapons going in Week 4, as well as get a bit more creative.
McDaniels needs to commit to the downhill run game to open up the passing game against the Denver Broncos to keep their pass rush off balance, keeping Carr clean in the pocket off the play action taking shots to Davante Adams downfield.