The Denver Broncos have lost each of their last five games with the now-Las Vegas Raiders. That’s the longest losing streak for the Broncos in the series since 1992-1994, when they lost six straight.
With a loss on Sunday, they’ll tie that mark, and make their historical streak even more embarrassing.
How can they dodge this sickening fate?
Limit Josh Jacobs
This one is fairly obvious.
The last time these two teams played, the Denver Broncos had their worst defensive performance of the season, and the Las Vegas Raiders had their best offensive performance of the season. This was for one critical reason — Josh Jacobs.
Jacobs cruised to a then-career-high 144 yards and two touchdowns, on more than five yards per carry, as the Raiders hung 30 on the Broncos’ defense. Since then, Denver’s defense has suffered ugly performances against the rushing attacks of the New York Jets and Jacksonville Jaguars, who each garnered more than 150 yards on the ground.
However, the Denver Broncos are coming off their best run-defense performance of the season, as they held Derrick Henry under 55 rushing yards (which hadn’t happened in a Titans victory since 2018). If the defense can turn in a similar performance against Jacobs, Denver’s chances of winning will skyrocket.
Commit to the run with Latavius Murray.
It is so hard to find solutions right now for the Denver Broncos offense.
Russell Wilson has always struggled to operate the quick passing game. It was one of the bugs in his game that teams were aware of prior to this disastrous 2022 campaign. As a result, the best Wilson offenses have always had a strong rushing component. This allows the offense to remain consistent on early downs, and keep the defense honest, opening windows for Wilson to exploit downfield.
The Broncos haven’t been able to get much of anything going on the ground, but they also haven’t been especially patient with their rushing attack. They’ve also insisted on leaning on Melvin Gordon, who might be the worst player on the offense at this point in his career. Latavius Murray has separated as the best player in the backfield, and his bruising rushing style should be able to punish the light boxes Denver is facing.
As a result, that should re-open some opportunities in the passing game.
At this point, 17 points would feel like a success for the Denver Broncos’ offense, and as bizarre as it sounds, Latavius Murray feels like the best avenue to achieve that goal.
Lean on Patrick Surtain II
Without K’Waun Williams or Ronald Darby, and with Justin Simmons hobbled, the Denver Broncos will be forced to do this naturally, but it will be especially true with Davante Adams on the opposing team.
Adams can win from anywhere, and if the Broncos allow him to, he will eat Essang Bassey alive for all four quarters of Sunday’s matchup. It will be hard to watch.
The one solution is to have Patrick Surtain II follow Davante Adams wherever he goes.
In Week 4’s matchup, Surtain shadowed Adams on 25 of the 35 times Adams ran a route. In those 25 snaps, Adams was targeted eight times, made four receptions and gained just 46 yards. On those other 10 snaps, Adams was targeted five times, made five receptions and gained 55 yards.
Patrick Surtain aligned across from Davante Adams on 25 of 35 routes (71% shadow).
Surtain forced more tight window targets (5) than receptions allowed (4) against Adams.#DENvsLV | #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/oJaKzwM6fP
— Next Gen Stats (@NextGenStats) October 2, 2022
That was when Denver’s secondary was still relatively healthy. Now, with Bassey and Damarri Mathis as the other options, Surtain needs to follow Adams everywhere.
Plus, that should be fairly appealing, as the Raiders are without Hunter Renfrow and Darren Waller, making Adams deserving of the added attention.