Both of these teams are coming off of very disappointing losses.  The Broncos got shocked 59-14 at home against the Raiders and the Niners lost 23-20 against the Panthers at Carolina.  The 49ers left for London after last Sunday’s game while the Broncos preferred to get ready at home.  This is a Niners’ “home game”.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos are going to come out passing in this game.  The Niners are allowing 215.7 yards passing per game and the Broncos are averaging 290.1 yards per game through the air.  Eddie Royal, Demaryius Thomas & Jabar Gaffney will likely handle the short stuff while Brandon Lloyd goes deep.  Kyle Orton has a lot of quality targets and the Niners are going to have a hard time covering all of them. 

When the Niners have the ball:  The Niners are going to come out feeding the ball to Frank Gore against a Broncos’ D that is allowing 156.3 yards rushing and 4.8 yards per carry.  The 49ers will also likely get Anthony Dixon & Brian Westbrook out of mothballs this week when Gore needs a breather.  With Troy Smith starting at QB the 49ers will likely roll the pocket more than usual.  Other than that I don’t see much changing as Vernon Davis will still be his top target in the passing game.

PREDICTION:  49ERS 27, BRONCOS 24

23-year old cornerback Perrish Cox was a 5th round pick out of Oklahoma State last season.  For some reason he dropped in the draft as many experts had him graded out to be picked in the 2nd or 3rd round.  The Broncos are happy that he slipped to them.  Cox has played in 7 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has 27 tackles, 10 passes defensed, 1 interception and 1 forced fumble.  Cox will continue to get playing time as long as he stays effective.

This was one of the worst beatings the Broncos have ever took.  It looked like they didn’t want to even play today and the Raiders made them pay for it.  Kyle Orton completed 12 of 29 passes for 198 yards with 2 TD passes and 1 INT (it was returned 30 yards for a TD by Raiders’ CB Chris Johnson).  Orton also carried the ball 2 times for 21 yards (10.5 ypc) and he lost a fumble in this game.  Knowshon Moreno came to play for the Broncos today as he carried the ball 14 times for 53 yards (3.8 ypc) and he also caught 3 passes for 37 yards (12.3 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Jabar Gaffney led the way in the passing game for the Broncos today with 4 grabs for 54 yards (13.5 avg).  The Broncos finished up with 75 yards rushing on 17 carries (4.4 ypc) and they also completed 12 of 29 passes for 165 yards as they only had possession of the ball for a whopping 21:21!

DT Marcus Thomas (10 tackles) and LB Jason Hunter (6 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 1 sack, 1 pass defensed and 1 QB hit) both came to play for the Broncos today too bad they didn’t have any help!  The Raiders finished up with 328 yards rushing on 52 carries (6.3 ypc) and they also completed 12 of 20 passes for 180 yards.  The Broncos are now 2-5 on the year after getting demolished by the Raiders at home.

Throw the records out the window when these two hated rivals play each other.  The Raiders are 0-3 on the road this season but the Broncos are only 1-2 at home.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  The Broncos will likely try to be more balanced in this game as the Raiders are giving up 149.5 yards rushing per game and 5.0 yards per carry so far this year.  Knowshon Moreno will likely have a much heavier workload than he had last weekend.  I also look for Tim Tebow to get under center for a few plays in this game.  But, don’t think for a minute that Kyle Orton won’t continue his air raid against a Raiders’ secondary that has allowed 12 TD passes and they only have 2 interceptions.

When the Raiders have the ball:  With Darren McFadden back I look for the Raiders to run the ball a lot against a Broncos’ D that is allowing 127.7 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per carry.  The utter lack of a pass rush (the Broncos have 7 sacks this year) will probably give Raiders’ QB Jason Campbell the time he needs to try to make some plays in the passing game.  The Raiders like to throw the TE Zach Miller a lot so the Broncos’ safeties will be challenged tomorrow.

PREDICTION:  BRONCOS 27, RAIDERS 16

23-year old rookie QB Tim Tebow has passed up Brady Quinn on the depth chart at QB.  The Broncos now feel that he’s ready to get onto the field at least in their version of the Wildcat.  Tebow is built like a tank at 6’3″, 245 pounds and he really runs with a lot of power.  He has played in 2 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has carried the ball 8 times for 25 yards (3.1 ypc) with 1 TD run.  That TD was the first of hopefully many in Tim Tebow’s NFL career.

The Broncos have placed 26-year old WR Matt Willis on the Injured Reserve List ending his season due to a broken foot.  Willis played in all 6 games for the Broncos this year but he only had 1 catch for 17 yards and 1 tackle.  The Broncos have also lost 23-year old running back Andre Brown off waivers to the Colts.  Brown played in 3 games for the Broncos this year and he carried the ball 2 times for -1 yard.  The Broncos won’t likely miss either of these guys too much.

The Broncos traded punches with the Jets today before coming up just a tad short when LaDainian Tomlinson scored a TD on a 2-yard run with only 1:13 left in the game.  Kyle Orton was a little bit off today as he completed 14 of 34 passes for 209 yards with 1 TD pass and 0 INTs.  He also carried the ball 3 times for 22 yards (7.3 ypc).  Tim Tebow ran the Broncos’ version of the Wildcat today and he carried the ball 6 times for 23 yards (3.8 ypc) with 1 TD run (the first of his NFL career).  Knowshon Moreno made a surprise appearance today and he led the Broncos with 48 yards rushing on 12 carries (4.0 ypc) but he also lost a fumble.  Jabar Gaffney (6 rec, 81 yards), Brandon Lloyd (4 rec, 74 yards) Eddie Royal (3 rec, 37 yards) and Demaryius Thomas (1 rec, 17 yards, TD) led the way for the Broncos in the passing game today.   The Broncos finished up with 145 yards rushing on 37 carries (3.9 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 34 passes for 201 yards today.

Linebacker D.J. Williams led a decent effort by the Broncos’ D with 11 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack, 2 passes defensed and 1 QB hit.  Safety Renaldo Hill (fumble recovery), rookie CB Syd’Quan Thompson (interception) and LB Jason Hunter (interception) made big plays for the Broncos today.  The Jets finished up with 129 yards rushing on 30 carries (4.3 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 30 passes for 190 yards today.  The Broncos are now 2-4 on the year.

The Broncos will have their hands full tomorrow afternoon at home against the Jets.  The Jets have won 4 games in a row as they look like one of the top teams in the AFC.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Broncos have the ball:  This game is all about Kyle Orton.  The Jets have a great run defense so I don’t see the Broncos running the ball unless they get a really good lead in this game.  If Orton has time to throw the ball he should have some success as the Jets are giving up 234.6 yards passing per game so far this year.  Orton will likely spread the field out with WRs Jabar Gaffney, Demaryius Thomas, Brandon Lloyd and Eddie Royal and get rid of the ball quickly.  Orton will need his receivers to make plays after the catch because the Jets love to blitz the QB.

When the Jets have the ball:  The Jets are going to come off the bus running the ball with LaDainian Tomlinson (435 yards rushing) and Shonn Greene (280 yards rushing) against a Broncos’ D that is allowing 127.4 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per carry.  After the Jets establish the running game look for them to take some shots down the field on playaction passes to guys like WR Santonio Holmes, TE Dustin Keller, WR Braylon Edwards and WR Jerricho Cotchery.

PREDICTION:  JETS 27, BRONCOS  20

The Broncos will be without three starting players for this coming up weekend’s tilt against the Jets and longer after the Ravens beat up on them last Sunday.  Veteran safety Brian Dawkins will miss the next 2-3 weeks with a strained knee ligament.  Dawkins has played in 5 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has 27 tackles, 1 tackle or a loss, 1 sack, 3 passes defensed and 1 interception.  The Broncos will really miss Dawkins at the back of the D as he is still a playmaker even though he’s getting old.  CB Andre Goodman has a thigh injury that might only cause him to miss the Jets’ game.  Goodman has played in 3 games for the Broncos this year and he only has 2 tackles.  OLB Robert Ayers will miss at least the next six weeks with a broken bone in his foot.  Ayers has played in all 5 games for the Broncos so far this year and he has 19 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss and 1.5 sacks.  This is a big blow to the Broncos as Ayers is tied for the lead in sacks (1.5) for a Broncos’ team that only has 5 on the year.  These injuries are really going to hurt the Broncos unless the backups step up big time.

The Broncos just couldn’t get the Ravens’ offense off the field in this game limiting any chance they had of making a game of it.  Kyle Orton still got his numbers as he completed 23 of 38 passes for 314 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Laurence Maroney (6 car, 27 yards) and Correll Buckhalter (5 car, 13 yards) led the way for the Broncos on the ground in this game.  WRs Brandon Lloyd (5 rec, 135 yards, 2 TDs) and Jabar Gaffney (9 rec, 87 yards) led the way for the Broncos through the air today.  The Broncos finished up with 39 yards rushing on 13 carries (3.0 ypc) and they also completed 23 of 38 passes for 307 yards as they only had possession of the football for 23:43.

LBs D.J. Williams (15 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss) and Jason Hunter (9 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 QB hit) led the way for the Broncos on D in this game.  The Ravens finished up with 233 yards rushing on 47 carries (5.0 ypc) and they also completed 14 of 25 passes for 182 yards.  The Broncos are now 2-3 on the year.