Las Vegas (2-2) at Denver (2-2)
Sunday, 4:05 p.m. EDT, CBS
BetMGM NFL Odds: Broncos by 2 1/2.
Series record: Raiders lead 73–54–2.
Against the spread: Raiders 2-2; Broncos 3-1.
Last meeting: Raiders beat Broncos 27-14 on Jan. 7, 2024, in Las Vegas.
Last week: Raiders beat Browns 20-16, Broncos beat Jets 10-9.
Raiders offense: overall (24), rush (31), pass (13), scoring
Raiders defense: overall (21), rush (24), pass (17),scoring (29)
Broncos offense: overall (27), rush (20-T), pass (27), scoring (28)
Broncos defense: overall (2-T), rush (12), pass (3), scoring (3)
Turnover differential: Raiders minus-4, Broncos minus-2.
Raiders player to watch
DE Tyree Wilson. He was Pro Football Focus’ highest-rated Raiders player last week, putting together perhaps his finest game. He easily played his most snaps this season at 70.2% and had three quarterback pressures. Wilson still hasn’t played up to the expectations of being the No. 7 overall draft pick in 2023, but this was a step in the right direction. With the Raiders ends battered by injuries, he’ll certainly get his opportunities.
Broncos player to watch
QB Bo Nix. He’s coming off a game in the rain against the Jets in which he threw for just 60 yards but also had the afternoon’s only touchdown pass — the first of his career, too — to Courtland Sutton in the Broncos’ squeaker at the Meadowlands. Nix played exceptionally well a week earlier in Denver’s 26-7 win at Tampa Bay.
Key matchup
Raiders run defense vs. Broncos RB Javonte Williams. The Raiders rank 24th in the league, allowing 137.5 yards a game on the ground. Williams struggled through the first three weeks of the season before coming up big on a soggy day in East Rutherford, New Jersey, last week when he ran for 77 yards on 16 carries against the Jets. That pushed him over 2,000 rushing yards and quieted the critics who were wondering why Sean Payton was sticking with him when he averaged less than 2.2 yards per carry in Weeks 1-3 and managed just 52 yards on 24 runs.
Key injuries
Raiders: DE Maxx Crosby (ankle) had limited practices and has not been ruled out. … WR Davante Adams (hamstring) and LBs Divine Deablo (oblique) and Luke Masterson (knee) will not play. Rookie LB Tommy Eichenberg will make his first start. … RB Zamir White (groin) isn’t expected to play, making Alexander Mattison the probable starter. … The Raiders also could without T Thayer Munford (knee/ankle) and G Dylan Parham (Achilles tendon) also might not play.
Broncos: RB Tyler Badie (back), who collapsed on the sideline last week after taking a helmet to his back, will likely miss a few weeks. … Special teams ace JL Skinner, who missed last week’s game with an ankle injury, returned to practice this week on a limited basis. … WR Josh Reynolds (foot) has been a full participate in practice.
Series notes
Denver has lost eight consecutive times to the Raiders, their longest skid since losing 16 in a row in the series between 1963 and 1971. The Broncos’ most recent win over the Raiders came on Dec. 29, 2019, the last game for the Oakland Raiders before the franchise moved to Las Vegas.
Stats and stuff
Raiders QB Gardner Minshew’s only career start against the Broncos was in 2019 with Jacksonville when he threw for 213 yards and two TDs without an interception in the Jaguars’ 26-24 win in Denver. … Las Vegas defenders Adam Butler and Christian Wilkins each have 12 QB pressures, both players ranking in the top 10 among DTs. Butler’s 10.5% is his highest since at least 2018, according to NFL Next Gen Stats. Wilkins is at 9.2%, the second highest of his career. … CB Jakorian Bennett has broken up four passes on third down, tied for most in the league. He has five PBUs overall. … Nate Hobbs has allowed a 43.8% completion rate on 16 targets, tied for fourth lowest among CBs. … The Raiders have limited opponents to a third down conversion rate of less than 50% seven games in a row. … Las Vegas has committed 3.69 penalties for 28.46 yards per game since Antonio Pierce took over as coach midway through last season. Those are the league’s lowest rates over that span. … The Raiders’ rally from 10-0 down Sunday against the Cleveland Browns was just the third time over the past 20 years that they came from at least 10 points behind in the first quarter to win. All have occurred since 2020. … Broncos rookie QB Bo Nix had minus-7 yards passing in the first half at slippery MetLife Stadium last week, becoming the first quarterback this century to have negative yards on five or more completions in a half. … The Broncos allowed zero sacks on their two-game Eastern trip to face the Buccaneers and Jets. That marks the first time since 2016 they’ve had back-to-back games without allowing a sack. They’ve also allowed just four sacks through four games for the first time since 2014. … S Brandon Jones is the fifth Denver defender since 2000 to intercept a pass, force a fumble and recover a fumble in the first month of the season. … The Broncos are allowing a third down conversion rate of just 28.3% after holding the Jets to 4 of 17 last week. … The five touchdowns the Broncos have allowed are the fewest through four games since 2009. … ILB Cody Barton had a team-best 10 tackles last week, his first double-digit tackle performance for the Broncos. … Ten different Broncos have gotten in on the team’s 16 sacks so far.
Fantasy tip
Williams finally had a breakout game last week and the Broncos hope it was a harbinger and not an anomaly.
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