The Las Vegas Raiders are out to prove that they can handle things just fine despite all the Jon Gruden issues that floated up over the past several days. They will be up against the Denver Broncos, who, like Las Vegas, are on a two-game losing skid. Which team gets out of their slump in Week 6? Check out our preview of this game below.
It hasn’t been a great past couple of weeks for the Raiders, who are now left to deal with the aftermath of the explosive Jon Gruden email controversy. Now that Gruden is out as head coach of the team, one of the challenges for the Raiders is to put their entire focus on winning their next matchup. Fortunately for Las Vegas, it’s not going to face a legitimate Super Bowl contender in the team’s first game after Gruden’s resignation as head coach. The Broncos have been exposed of late and are dealing with injuries to some of their key players. The Raiders, meanwhile, have lost their last two games to the Los Angeles Chargers (28-14) on the road in Week 4 and to the Chicago Bears at home in Week 6, 20-9. The Broncos own a second-ranked scoring defense, but taken with context, their stop unit isn’t as stout as what the numbers show. After all, their first three games were against teams unlikely not to make the playoffs, while the Baltimore Ravens and the Pittsburgh Steelers have scored an average of 25.0 points in Denver’s losses to those teams the last two weeks. Derek Carr and the Raiders can get their offense going again, one that is putting up 22.6 points per contest.
The Raiders are 5-2 against the spread in their last seven games as road underdogs.
Denver has lost its last two games, as mentioned earlier, but the Broncos are getting the Raiders team at possibly the best time. With the Raiders in flux, Las Vegas might not be stable enough to handle its first NFL game with a new head coach. Teddy Bridgewater went 24/38 for 288 passing yards and a couple of touchdowns with an interception in last week’s 27-19 road loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Wide receiver Courtland Sutton shined with 120 receiving yards and a touchdown on seven catches, and he can put up impressive numbers again downfield together with wideout Tim Patrick against the Raiders. Denver can also count on its defense to get to Raiders quarterback Derek Carr. Las Vegas has allowed the fifth-most sacks so far this season, with 15 quarterback takedowns given up. Meanwhile, the Broncos are eighth in the league with a 6.7 sack percentage.
The Broncos are 10-3 against the spread in their last 13 games following an ATS loss.
