Oakland Raiders vs. Denver Broncos

The Denver Broncos may view the latter half of their season as a disappointment. After all they started 6-0 for the first time since their Super Bowl winning season of 1998, yet they have won just twice since the start of the season, but when the season on a whole has been judged, it may be a pretty decent season after all. The Broncos will try to earn a win and keep the pace in the AFC wild-card race.

Before the season if you had told a Broncos’ fan that the team would go 8-8, they would probably first call you crazy and then secondly been wildly excited. Denver has missed the playoffs in four straight years and they gutted the organization when they failed to clinch a playoff spot when they had a three game lead with three games remaining.

The Broncos (8-5) fired their long-time coach Mike Shanahan and shipped their All-Pro quarterback to Chicago. The looked awful in the preseason, so they shocked many with their torrid start.

Because of that start, they still hold the top spot in the AFC wild-card race, but are part of eight teams vying for two wild-card spots, so their margin for error in the regular season’s final three games is minimal.

Final three games may be three dirty words in Denver after last season and the Broncos have not been exactly sprinting to the finish, losing five of their last seven contests and travel to Philadelphia in between home games against the two worst teams in their division, Kansas City, in the regular season finale and this week with Oakland (4-9).

Denver became the latest victim on the Indianapolis Colts perfect march, losing 28-16 last Sunday. Much of the Broncos’ troubles lately have been due to a ever changing backfield due to injuries. Their three top backs, Correll Buckhalter, LaMont Jordan and rookie Knowshon Moreno have all been banged up in practice this week and as the week progressed it looks like Buckhalter would be the only one not healthy enough to go.

Denver has won the last seven of nine over Oakland Raiders, including a 23-3 road victory on September 27, but the Broncos should not take the Raiders lightly. Three of their four victories were over teams that are on their way to the playoffs, or figured to be when they faced them, at home against Philadelphia and Cincinnati and on the road in Pittsburgh.

The last time the teams met, former number one overall draft pick JaMarcus Russell was struggling and was benched in favor of Bruce Gradkowski, who had some success, going 2-2 as a starter, but blew out his MCL in last week’s 34-13 loss and is lost for the season so Oakland will turn to their third starting quarterback of the season, journeyman Charley Frye, who has not thrown a pass in the regular season since October of 2008 while a member of the Seattle Seahawks.

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