Oakland Raiders: A Few Keys To Victory Over The Denver Broncos
By Kevin Saito
Take Advantage of the Missing II
Broncos safety T.J. Ward made some waves earlier this week when during an interview, he opted to throw some shade at Oakland’s receiving group. He probably also gave the Raiders some solid bulletin board material as well as giving Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper a little extra incentive to go out there and have a big day.
During his interview, Ward took the opportunity to run his mouth:
“I feel like they have two good receivers. I don’t feel like they have two elite receivers.”
It’s difficult to pin down exactly what makes an “elite” receiver in the eyes of somebody who is a self-professed hater, but the numbers might argue with Ward‘s assessment.
More from Golden Gate Sports
- Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
- 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
- Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
- 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
- 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve
For the year, Cooper is third in the NFL with 52 catches for 787 yards and a pair of scores. Crabtree has snared 47 passes for 569 yards – and his six touchdowns are second only to Tampa Bay’s Mike Evans for the league lead.
Their combined 99 receptions for 1,356 yards and eight touchdowns make them one of the league’s most prolific receiving tandem this season – just behind Atlanta’s Julio Jones and Mohamed Sanu. And well ahead of Denver’s own tandem of Emmanuel Sanders and Demaryius Thomas.
Elite or not, Oakland’s receivers are going to have a tough time against a Denver secondary that doesn’t give up a lot. In fact, Denver has the league’s top pass defense in terms of yards allowed. They’re a good, solid, physical unit that makes plays.
But they will be without top cornerback Aqib Talib, who is out with a back injury. Bradley Roby has done just fine in Talib’s absence, even earning Defensive Player of the Week honors for his efforts against San Diego last week.
But it’s not Roby or Chris Harris the team should be targeting. No, the Raiders need to take advantage of another fill-in – Lorenzo Doss. The little used second year corner is going to be playing in the slot with an injured Kayvon Webster reportedly out for the game.
It’s an advantage that OC Bill Musgrave is going to need to seize upon. He’s going to need to do his best to keep Doss on the field by employing multiple receiver sets. And from there, he needs to do his best to create mismatches that expose Doss’ inexperience on the field – he’s appeared in just eight games in his two year career, making zero starts.
There aren’t a lot of chinks in Denver’s defensive armor, but that could be one. And it could potentially be a game changer if Oakland can exploit the seldom used cornerback.