For the first time in the 2025 season the Broncos get to take on the Oakl..Las Vegas Raiders. There’s still something in me that fights to call them by their “new” name. Maybe it’s just how fitting the city of Oakland and the colosseum was for such a trashy franchise like the Raiders are.
This matchup has a dramatically different feel than it did just a season ago. At the time of their first meeting last year the Broncos had lost eight games in a row to the Raiders, never beating them since they made their move to Vegas. But ever since that 100-yard pick six by Pat Surtain that completely changed the momentum of that game, the Broncos have gone on to outscore the Raiders 53-27 and the franchises have taken two different roads. Denver looks to be making not just a playoff push, but they’re eying a division title for the first time since 2015. And the Raiders, well, they’re having quite the Raiders-type year.
Here’s how the Broncos can extend their winning streak to seven and keep the Raiders in the division’s basement come Thursday underneath the lights in prime time, donned in the beautiful Orange Crush uniforms.
1. Limit Brock Bowers and Ashton Jeanty
With Jakobi Meyers now out of the picture, the Raiders really are left with just two guys that have the opportunity to destroy opposing defenses. We all know, especially as Bronco fans, that Brock Bowers has the ability to wreck any game if there isn’t special attention being given to him. He’s a dang good tight end and a real threat to this defense. But there’s good news: the Broncos have been getting better at not letting opposing tight ends run wild.
Last week Dalton Shultz was limited to six catches, 77 yards, and no touchdowns. The week prior, one of the best tight ends in the league, Jake Ferguson, was completely left off the stat sheet, besides his one target. The Broncos have found something in Jahdae Barron and his ability to cover tight ends. He’s been doing a really solid job in that department, and he’ll have to keep his game up come Thursday.
And when it comes to Ashton Jeanty, while he hasn’t had the most impressive of rookie seasons, he has still accounted for nearly a fifth of the Raiders’ total first downs this season and has reached the end zone six times, through both the air and on the ground. He is, like at Boise State, a machine when it comes to breaking tackles. And while that Vegas offensive line is poor, Jeanty is still able to pick up positive yards even while being hit in the backfield. Swarm tackling will be the name of the game on Thursday. I’m expecting many instances of him and Talanoa Hufanga meeting in the gap.
2. Run that dang ball early and on first downs
We all know that the Broncos have a good run game, and that Sean Payton has been quick to move away from it and rely on the arm of Bo Nix. It’s this that has lead to the offensive not getting off to a good start, giving the opposition the ball, and getting down on the scoreboard early.
Last week against the Texans, when running the ball on first down the Broncos gained an average of 5.7 yards per carry. And that included five rushes of eight or more yards. This offensive line and JK Dobbins have been producing all year long and have come up big when the Broncos need them to. This is a rushing attack that needs to be relied upon. Especially considering that the Raiders defense is near the middle of the pack in the league, giving up 109 rushing yards per game. This is a defensive front that needs to be beaten up, and it will lead to more favorable conditions on second and third down to help get that passing game going.
3. Make Geno Smith throw even more interceptions
Geno Smith has not been good this year, and that might be an understatement.
Smith currently sits 20th in passing yards, has a 1:1 TD:INT ratio (which includes three multi-INT games and two three-INT games) and has an issue taking sacks. He is the sixth-most sacked quarterback in the league, being taken down 21 times so far, and he has taken a sack on over eight percent of his dropbacks this year. Three times this year he has been sacked at least 10% of the time, with the season high at 14.7% when they took on the Commanders (he was sacked five times).
No matter how you slice it, Geno Smith has been unable to consistently hit his guys for chunk yardage, consistently gets his team into turnover trouble, has not been able to help them close out a game, and has been taking plenty of sacks, which is both his and the offensive line’s fault.
I expect this pass rush to get after Smith all day, and maybe Hufanga can finally get his interception that he’s been awfully close to securing this season.