Raiders search for 1st win when hosting rival Broncos
DENVER (2-1) at LAS VEGAS (0-3)
Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS
OPENING LINE: Raiders by 1 1/2, according to FanDuel SportsBook.
AGAINST THE SPREAD: Denver 1-2; Las Vegas 0-3.
SERIES RECORD: Raiders lead 69-54-2.
LAST MEETING: Raiders beat Broncos 17-13 on Dec. 26, 2021, in Las Vegas.
LAST WEEK: Broncos beat 49ers 11-10; Raiders lost 24-22 to Titans.
BRONCOS OFFENSE: OVERALL (16), RUSH (12), PASS (18), SCORING (31).
BRONCOS DEFENSE: OVERALL (3), RUSH (6), PASS (3), SCORING (2).
RAIDERS OFFENSE: OVERALL (17), RUSH (28), PASS (17), SCORING (10).
RAIDERS DEFENSE: OVERALL (21), RUSH (15), PASS (26), SCORING (24).
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Broncos plus-1; Raiders minus-3.
BRONCOS PLAYER TO WATCH: CB Patrick Surtain II was only targeted five times last week and gave up zero catches while breaking up a pair of passes, giving him 16 pass breakups in 19 career games, second only to Domonique Foxworth's 18 in his first 19 games in Denver.
RAIDERS PLAYER TO WATCH: WR Mack Hollins was the surprise offensive star for the Raiders last week with eight catches for 158 yards and a TD. Hollins caught two deep balls for 48 and 60 yards, opening up the Raiders offense.
KEY MATCHUP: Broncos edge rushers Randy Gregory and Bradley Chubb against Las Vegas' offensive tackles. Gregory has seven tackles, two sacks, five quarterback hits, two forced fumbles and two tackles for loss. His two forced fumbles are tied for the most in the NFL this season and give him 10 since 2018. Chubb has seven tackles, three for a loss, three sacks, five quarterback hits and a forced fumble after an injury-marred 2021 season in which he didn't have a single sack.
KEY INJURIES: Broncos DL D.J. Jones is in concussion protocol and is questionable. ... Denver RT Billy Turner remains sidelined from offseason knee surgery. ... Broncos LG Dalton Risner (ankle) is questionable. .... Raiders WR Hunter Renfrow (concussion) and TE Foster Moreau (knee) are out this week. ... CBs Rock Ya-Sin (knee) and Sam Webb (hamstring) are questionable. ... C Andre James (concussion), LB Denzel Perryman (ankle) and S Tre'von Moehrig (hip) are all slated to return.
SERIES NOTES: The Raiders have won four straight in the series, tied for their longest streak vs. the Broncos since a six-gamer from 1992-94. ... Denver has lost the past six road games in the series with two in Las Vegas and four in Oakland. ... Raiders coach Josh McDaniels went 11-17 in one-plus season as Broncos coach in 2009-10.
STATS AND STUFF: QB Russell Wilson has just two TD throws and 22 yards rushing so far, but he's guided the Broncos (2-1) to back-to-back fourth-quarter comebacks to beat the Texans and 49ers. .... The Broncos are just 1 for 7 in the red zone with the sole score coming last week on Melvin Gordon's 1-yard run that propelled Denver past San Francisco with just the second 11-10 score in league history. ... Last week the Broncos became the first team to win a game in which they punted 10 times since they themselves accomplished the feat in 2016 against Jacksonville. Their nine three-and-outs were the most in any game since 2014. ... Denver P Corliss Waitman won AFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors after he averaged 47.6 yards (43.6 net) and dropped six punts inside the 20 against the Niners, the most by any player in a game this season. ... The Broncos are allowing just 251.4 yards a game and last week they allowed one third down conversion in 10 tries. ... After giving up just 18.9 points per game last year, the Broncos are allowing just 12 points on average in 2022, which is the second-best mark in the NFL behind the Buccaneers (9.0). ... The Raiders are trying to avoid their sixth 0-4 start in franchise history. They last did it in 2014. ... Las Vegas passing on 70.9% of plays, the second-highest rate in the NFL. ... The Raiders went 1 for 12 on third downs last week, their worst performance in a game since going 0 for 10 against Miami in 2020. ... Las Vegas is tied for the fewest sacks in the NFL (two) and tied for the second-fewest takeaways (two). ... The Raiders have scored TDs on only 6 of 13 (46.2%) red zone drives. ... Raiders QB Derek Carr leads the NFL with 13 passes gaining at least 20 yards. ... Carr has thrown two TD passes in all three games. ... Las Vegas K Daniel Carlson has made 31 straight FGs, the longest active streak in the NFL. ... Raiders edge rusher Chandler Jones has 16 1/2 sacks against Wilson, the second-most sacks for one player against one QB since 2000. Jones has no sacks this season.
FANTASY TIP: Raiders receiver Davante Adams has a TD catch in each game this season, but has been awfully quiet otherwise the past two weeks. He has five catches in those two games and just 44 yards from scrimmage, his fewest in a two-game span since 2015. Getting Adams more involved should be a priority this week.
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