The Denver Broncos (3-0) easily beat the Oakland Raiders (1-2) today on the road.  The Broncos defense did a great job of shutting down the Raiders’ offense, but it wasn’t that difficult of a challenge.  I thought the Raiders might have themselves a better game offensively, but they were terrible again only getting 137 total yards of offense.

The Broncos knew that the Raiders offense was weak, but their defense on the other hand has been playing very well.  That didn’t deter the Broncos though, as they played mistake-free football and dominated this game throughout.  Quarterback Kyle Orton did not put up any crazy numbers, but he had no interceptions on 13/23 passes (57%) and one touchdown.  They really attacked the Raiders on the ground though, as Correll Buckhalter had 108 yards on 14 carries (7.7 avg) and Knowshown Moreno went for 90 yards on 21 carries (4.3 avg).

The Broncos defense was able to cause a lot of havoc on the struggling Raiders’ offense.  Raiders’ quarterback JaMarcus Russell only managed 61 yards through the air and threw two interceptions, both in the first quarter.  The boos came early and often for Russell who has been struggling all season so far.  The Broncos also held the talented Darren McFadden to only 45 yards on the ground.  The Raiders were never really in this one, and the Broncos proved they were the much better football team today.

 The Denver Broncos (2-0) are heading to the Oakland Coliseum this week to take on the Oakland Raiders (1-1).  The Broncos defense has been great so far this season but the offense has been a different story.  The Raiders are in similar circumstances as the Broncos, as their offense is even worse than the Broncos but they also have a revamped, strong defense.

Broncos’ quarterback Kyle Orton will look to get the offense going, but he has not showed much as the passing game has been pretty weak.  The Broncos should be 1-1, but a tipped pass into the hands of Brandon Stokley got the Broncos a last second win in week one.  The Raiders defense has looked very strong and almost upset the highly powered San Diego Chargers.

Raiders’ quarterback JaMarcus Russel has struggled a lot early in the season, but he also shown flashes of great play.  He needs to do a better job with his decision making and not hold on to the ball for so long.  He has gotten decent protection, and the sacks that have occurred are usually Russel’s fault.  One of his protector’s, right guard Robert Gallery, is out at least four weeks after he broke his leg last week.

The Raiders do have a lot of talent on offense, but it hasn’t really clicked yet.  If Russel can get the offense going, the Raiders will win this game for sure.  The Broncos have one of the best defenses in the league though, so that probably wont happen, but the Raiders defense is going to make some plays.  I think both defenses are going to force some turnovers and score some points for their teams and I see the Raiders pulling out a late victory for the upset.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Broncos 20, Raiders 24

The Denver Broncos are only allowing 253.5 yards of offense this season (70.0 rushing, 183.5 passing) and 6.5 points per game.  A big reason for the improvement of the defense was the addition on inside linebacker Andra Davis in the off-season.  He has 19 tackles to lead the Broncos so far this season and he has a sack and three tackles for a loss.  OLB/DE Elvis Dumervil has been like the Tasmanian Devil so far this season.  He has 9 tackles, 4 sacks, 1 forced fumble and he has defensed 2 passes this year so far.  If both of these guys keep playing at this level the Broncos could have a solid defense all season long.

The Broncos passed to get the lead in this game and then they grinded it out on the ground to finish off the Browns.  Kyle Orton was so-so in this game completing 19 of 37 passes for 263 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 interceptions.  Correll Buckhalter led the way for the Broncos in the running game with 76 yards on 9 carries (8.4 ypc) with a 45-yard TD run.  He also caught 1 pass for 30 yards yesterday.  Rookie Knowshon Moreno had his first good NFL game carrying the ball 17 times for 75 yards (4.5 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 22 yards (11.0 avg).  Brandon Stokley led the way in the passing game for the Broncos with 5 catches for 70 yards (14.0 avg) as Orton got the ball to a lot of different receivers.  The Broncos finished up with 449 total yards on offense (186 rushing, 263 passing) in this game.

The defense was on fire for the Broncos in this game.  LB Andra Davis stuck it to his old team leading the Broncos with 10 tackles (2 for a loss).  DE Elvis Dumervil had by far the best game of his career as he finished with 7 tackles and 4 sacks!  Veteran safety Brian Dawkins pitched in with 6 tackles and a fumble recovery in this game.  The Browns finished up with 200 total yards on offense (54 rushing, 146 passing) in this game.  The Broncos are 2-0 sitting atop the AFC West by themselves.

This should be a interesting football game as the Broncos beat the Browns in Cleveland last season 34-30.  Don’t expect another shootout like that one as a long has changed with these two teams.  Look for the Browns to run the ball a lot more this week.  Jamal Lewis looked great last week but the Browns didn’t use him much in the 2nd half of the game last week when they were trying to catch up.  The Broncos only allowed 86 yards rushing last week on 27 carries (3.2 ypc) but I think Jamal Lewis is a lot better than Cedric Benson.  The Broncos will likely be blitzing when they get off the team bus against the Browns trying to force Brady Quinn into make some mistakes with the football.  The Browns must find a way to get the ball to Braylon Edwards more this week or they will have problems moving the ball thru the air.

It’s apparent that the Browns have not fixed their run defense as the Vikings rolled up 225 yards rushing (6.1 ypc) last week.  With that in mind look for the Broncos to run the ball more often than they did last week.  Look for Correll Buckhalter and rookie Knowshon Moreno to split the carries this week.  The Browns did get 4 sacks last week and they will likely be bringing a lot of heat against Kyle Orton when the Broncos pass and he must protect the football. 

PREDICTION:  BRONCOS 21, BROWNS 17