Raiders, Broncos Clash For AFC West Lead In Week 9

By Dave Thomas

For the Oakland Raiders and the Denver Broncos, AFC West supremacy will be on the line this Sunday evening in front of a nationwide audience. Both entering the contest at 6-2, the Raiders and Broncos each look to assert themselves as the team to beat in the division, with Kansas City currently in the hunt too.

Oakland, which just completed a two-game sweep in Florida with wins over Jacksonville and Tampa Bay, respectively, now has four straight games in the Bay Area, something that may or may not work to its credit. The Raiders are 5-0 on the road to date, going 1-2 in Oakland on the season. Meantime, Denver enters the contest fresh-off a 27-19 win at home this past Sunday over division foe San Diego.

While it is a little too early in the season to say this is a "must win game" for either team, both will undoubtedly tell you that it is an important game nonetheless.

So, will the Raiders transfer some of their road success to the Bay Area or will the Broncos come to town and steal their thunder?

Broncos Season Record: 6-2

The defending Super Bowl champions entered this season with few if any questions on defense (see more below), the focus being more guided towards the offense in the wake of the Peyton Manning retirement during the off-season.

To date, rookie QB Trevor Siemian has answered the bell, throwing for 1,487 yards and eight TD's. Coming into the season, Siemian was not projected to be the starter under center, that title going to NFL veteran Mark Sanchez. After beating Sanchez out during summer camp, along with ranking ahead of highly drafted prospect Paxton Lynch, the Northwestern grad has assumed the role of starting QB rather well to date.

Broncos On Offense

On the offensive side of the ball, Denver was dealt a recent blow when talented running back C.J. Anderson (437 yards rushing, four TD's) went down with a significant injury.

Anderson was placed on injured reserve and had surgery to repair injured meniscus in his right knee, an injury suffered two games ago in a home win over Houston. While Anderson hopes to return before season's end, his season is certainly in question at this point.

With Anderson out, the running attack now focuses on Devontae Booker (298 yards rushing, two touchdowns) to carry the load. Booker, who injured his shoulder in this past Sunday's win over the Chargers, was scheduled to be looked at again on Monday to see what type of damage he may have, this after finishing with 54 yards rushing in the game.

As for the passing attack, Siemian's top targets to date have included Emmanuel Sanders (44 receptions, 567 yards, three TD's) and Demaryius Thomas (42 catches, 535 yards, four touchdowns).

Broncos On Defense

On the defensive side of the pigskin, Denver turns to the very talented Von Miller (8.5 sacks, 33 total tackles) and T.J. Ward (52 total tackles, 42 solo).

Even before Manning announced his retirement in the off-season, Denver figured to once again rely on its defense coming into the season, a defense that carried the franchise to its third Super Bowl title (beat Carolina) a season ago.

Outlook:

With this game being televised on NBC this coming Sunday night, you know it certainly has its share of importance being paid to it.

Even though the two teams will meet again in the regular-season finale Jan. 1 in Denver, the winner of this Sunday's meeting will certainly feel like they have an advantage in the race for the AFC West crown.

Look for Denver's talented 'D' to try and put the clamps on Oakland quarterback Derek Carr, something Tampa Bay certainly wasn't able to do in the Raiders' 30-24 overtime win this past Sunday. Carr, who continues to grow each season, threw for a team-record 513 yards in the victory.

Oakland leads the all-time series between two of the original AFL teams 61-50-2.