Jump to content

Week 1 Gameday Thread - Las Vegas Raiders @ THE UNDEFEATED Denver Broncos


lomaxgrUK

Recommended Posts

I actually think we win this one by 10 points or more. That locker room in Raiderland seems like it's rubbing a lot of people the wrong way, alongside not giving their star running back a proper extension. From what I can tell, they also didn't give their starters more than one set during all of the preseason. We've seen how rusty this looks for teams on week one vs ones who gave their dudes some run. I just think our team is going to be playing "for the team" rather than "for themselves" which is what I believe raider's culture has become. Love the piece that Wickersham wrote on ESPN as well which described Sean focusing on little things to make plays easier to read rather than trying to outsmart the other coach (something McDaniels prides himself on but then gets mad at his players who "don't run it properly")

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One key area that deserves mention - is how good of a gameplan Vance Joseph will deliver as a DC.   We know he was an absolute disaster as a HC here, but he's now down to DC duties.    Thing is, he wasn't that great as a DC in MIA or in ARI - but it is fair to say the talent for both teams was lackluster.  The DL depth is still a concern, but he's working with likely the best unit personnel-wise than in his MIA/ARI days (not a high bar with ARI, I know).

Specific areas I want to see how he addresses:

1.  Limiting JimmyG to boundary passes - I cannot stress this enough, JimmyG is comfortable with the intermediate to short throws over-the-middle.  In a lot of ways, he's the anti-Russ.    His ability to throw the ball deep, and on boundaries, is not nearly as strong.    Covering the middle for short-intermediate and short-area easy throws are how you get him to make mistakes.  Obv pressure is a key, but coverage wise Davante Adams should be bracketed for crossing / middle if PS2 isn't on him.

2.  Can he scheme to limit the easy RB throws - again, focusing on where we've had trouble, but also where JimmyG is comfortable.   

3.  Can he keep Evero's aggression in the D's identity - with Simmons, Sterns & PS2, and even with the young CB's - we had a ball-hawking D when they were on the field.   I get that schemes change, but you should change the scheme to fit the best players, not the other way around.  One key area - will the D still be able to come up with the big-play/TO that the 1H D provided (once our pass rush and safeties/CB's went down, we lost that in 2H, but that's unavoidable).  

4.  Can he scheme up exotic pressure packages - it can't be just vanilla send-5 type deals on passing downs.   Zone blitzes, stunts, etc. - how creative is VJ?   

5.  Will the run D improve - this could be argued as a personnel issue, and if we're not better, our lack of DL depth could easily be laid at Paton's feet.   But it's an obvious Achilles, and with Jacobs & the Raiders run blocking OL, an critical Q for this week 1.

 

VJ can't address areas where our talent may be an issue on his own (so #5 may not all be on him) - but #1, #2 & #3 & #4 is a good indicator of his fingerprints on the team.  1 game isn't enough, but it's worth looking at (just like how our ST coverage/return will definitely point to our coaching staff there - praying it's finally better).

 

 

Edited by Broncofan
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

16 hours ago, Dbrog24 said:

I actually think we win this one by 10 points or more. That locker room in Raiderland seems like it's rubbing a lot of people the wrong way, alongside not giving their star running back a proper extension. From what I can tell, they also didn't give their starters more than one set during all of the preseason. We've seen how rusty this looks for teams on week one vs ones who gave their dudes some run. I just think our team is going to be playing "for the team" rather than "for themselves" which is what I believe raider's culture has become. Love the piece that Wickersham wrote on ESPN as well which described Sean focusing on little things to make plays easier to read rather than trying to outsmart the other coach (something McDaniels prides himself on but then gets mad at his players who "don't run it properly")

I enjoyed it, as well. https://www.espn.com/nfl/insider/insider/story/_/id/38323474/denver-broncos-coach-sean-payton-forget-anything?platform=amp

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am going to give Joseph the benefit of the doubt here and assume that Kubiak and Phillips saw something in Joseph - so if he is at least competent in running the defence I think we could have a blowout win. McDaniels is doing classic McDaniels - have a so-so first season as HC and then implode by the start of the second season.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/5/2023 at 5:05 PM, AnAngryAmerican said:

If it was a hack why not just come out immediately and say so? I think he was pissedoff and venting his frustrations - yes it could have just been in a moment of stress and some irrationality, but the claims it was a hack don’t seem legit to me.

Especially since a) the Raiders beat guys are all saying it’s radio silence from the franchise leadership and b) Mac, and other NE assistants who get HC/GM gigs, ALWAYS seem to have this kind of crap follow them around. 

Yeah, it seems like the problem is solely with Chandler Jones.   As much as most of us think McD is a problem as a HC (esp one with personnel oversight - yet again), it turns out Jones seems like he's got real issues going on right now.  I almost wish it was bad weed, this doesn't sound good at all, @RaidersAreOne post in the main thread paints a pretty awful picture.   Like I said in the OP, I hope it's bad weed - that's a better explanation for Jones right now than any other scenario. 

 

Obv I also don't think he's playing week 1...he's got way bigger fish to fry right now.  😮

 

Edited by Broncofan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Broncofan said:

Yeah, it seems like the problem is solely with Chandler Jones.   As much as most of us think McD is a problem as a HC (esp one with personnel oversight - yet again), it turns out Jones seems like he's got real issues going on right now.  I almost wish it was bad weed, this doesn't sound good at all, @RaidersAreOne post in the main thread paints a pretty awful picture.   Like I said in the OP, I hope it's bad weed - that's a better explanation for Jones right now than any other scenario. 

 

Obv I also don't think he's playing week 1...he's got way bigger fish to fry right now.  😮

 

Yea, it now clearly seems like he has suffered from kind of mental breakdown. I hope he can get the help he needs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/5/2023 at 1:32 AM, lomaxgrUK said:

Looks like nobody else fancies it, so here we go!

Keys to the game:

Run the ball - It doesn't take a genius to figure out what our Offensive gameplan is going to be. A shaky QB with a new Coach, THREE WRs on the active roster and (at best) nervy Pass Pro from the Offensive Line. There is going to be a heavy dosage of the run game and extensions of the run game.

Stop the run - I feel like every single bad Raider game the last 10 years (lets face it, there's been a few) has been the result of us being ran over. Whether it's Darren McFadden, Michael Bush, Latavius Murray or Josh Jacobs - they've all eaten against Denver. 
With the lack of talent along the DL for the Broncos, in particular the depth, this is a big concern for me.

3rd and long pass protection - Probably could've just copied and pasted this since Peyton retired, to be honest. Max Crosby is Lawrence Taylor against the Broncos; we know this. The Broncos have had RT issues for Crosby's entire NFL stint and nobody in the NFL has taken advantage of this more than Crosby.
McGlinchey hasn't played at all in the preseason and pass pro isn't his strength. We've paid McGlinchey a lot of money, so providing help feels like a loss before the play has even started.
The Raiders have added top 10 talent on the otherside too, so this is going to be something to keep an eye on.

Offensive turnovers - Even the most optimistic of us know that in order for us to win close games, we HAVE to avoid turnovers on Offense. In all honesty, I think this is going to be one of those games where if you look at the turnover battle, the winner there could win the game. Russell just simply has to play a measured game. 
If he puts in one of those games where he just tosses it up twice and loses it twice, we've got no shot.

I can't give a prediction because if I'm honest, I don't know enough about the Raiders roster this year to comment.

Loved the "Undefeated" part. That was an annual joke between my father and I throughout the 60's. We'd transition to "wait'll next year" pretty quickly.

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This would signal Jeudy is inactive.   Smart move.   If we can’t beat LV without him fair enough.   Better to have him for ROS than rush him back - soft tissue re-injury risk sky high this early with a grade 2 strain.  Even next week would be an insane timeline (he did only miss 2 weeks with what was called and looked like a HAS last year in the TeN game so he may be a faster healer than normally seen but this would be 99th percentile type return).  
 

 

Edited by Broncofan
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, MontanaBronco said:

@lomaxgrUK I'm in London with my fiancé. Not necessarily a huge priority but I figured Id still try and watch the game if I can find it. Any recommendations for how to stream in the UK/sites I can use a free trial for? 

Don't think you'd find somewhere with a free trial mate. Sports streaming is huge business over here, and Sky Sports pay a ton for the content.

Your only option would be to pay for NOW TV for an evening (£12).

Some people would resort to using https://streameast.app/live-nfl-stream for free, but I don't condone this sort of behaviour ... 

Edited by lomaxgrUK
  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 hours ago, lomaxgrUK said:

Don't think you'd find somewhere with a free trial mate. Sports streaming is huge business over here, and Sky Sports pay a ton for the content.

Your only option would be to pay for NOW TV for an evening (£12).

Some people would resort to using https://streameast.app/live-nfl-stream for free, but I don't condone this sort of behaviour ... 

Haha appreciate it. Some people.....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...