The Denver Broncos have played the Oakland Raiders 13 different times on Monday Night Football, holding the edge in the series with a record of 8-4-1.
Barring another relocation back to Oaktown though, this is likely to be the last matchup with the Oakland Raiders, and the last NFL game in the city of Oakland for the foreseeable future.
This gives the Broncos a fantastic opportunity to end the storied rivalry between the two cities with an exclamation point, by dropping a bomb on fledgling Raiders, in Oakland, on primetime television.
Here are some numbers to keep an eye on during Monday Night’s telecast between the two rivals.
4-11
That is Vance Joseph‘s road record over his two seasons in Denver. It is among the worst road records in the league over the span. The only teams who have had less success on the road are the Browns (2-13), Jets (2-13), Buccaneers (3-12), 49ers (3-12), Dolphins (3-12), Raiders (3-12), and Packers (3-12).
At home, the Broncos average scoring margin under Vance Joseph is +0.933. This means that on average the Broncos are beating their opponents by 0.933 points at home. Their average scoring margin on the road? -6.67. Meaning that the Broncos are averaging a touchdown and extra point loss on the road under Joseph. Remove the outlying +35 against the Cardinals, and it becomes an even uglier average of -9.64. Although, that is still an improvement on 2017, which saw the Broncos average road scoring margin at -13.25.
That being said, the Broncos do post a much better road record of 3-5 against teams that finished/will finish the season with a losing record over that span, like the Raiders.
3.0
That is how many sacks Bradley Chubb is from breaking Jevon Kearse‘s rookie sack record of 14.5, which he set during the 1999 season. Chubb will certainly have the chance to rack up sacks against the rival Raiders on Monday night. The Raiders’ offensive line has been porous for much of the year, giving up the third-most sacks in the league with 48.
According to Pro Football Focus, only two teams (Dolphins and Cardinals) have offensive lines with worse pass blocking efficiency grades. Rodney Hudson is the Raiders highest-graded offensive lineman and the only Raider playing Monday ranked in the top 70 of pass blocking efficiency. The Raiders highest graded tackle, rookie Brandon Parker, ranks 197th.
Since his breakout performance in Week 5 against the Rams, Chubb has been on fire, averaging 1.1 sacks per game. Out of players with at least 386 pass rush attempts (the amount Chubb has on the season), the rookie ranks fourth in terms PFF’s pass rush productivity grade which measures pressures on a per snap basis with extra weighting towards sacks. He’s even one spot ahead of teammate Von Miller. Only Danielle Hunter, Dee Ford, and Ryan Kerrigan have a better grade.
Miller even said on Thursday he’ll be helping Chubb get the record.
53.7
Case Keenum’s average grade over his last three games according to Pro Football Focus. If Keenum averaged that grade over the course of the season, he would be ranked 49th among quarterbacks and tied with Panthers’ backup Taylor Heinicke, who hasn’t started a game since 2014 when he was at Old Dominion University. Keenum’s isolated passing grade is an even worse 52.0. Heinicke’s? 53.3, and that’s with even worse surrounding talent and line play.
Over the last three weeks, Keenum’s average stat line has been 22-37 for 198 yards, one touchdown and an interception. That is just not good enough in today’s NFL that relies on offense and quarterback play. The return to primetime might not help Keenum either, as Denver’s QB has had two of his five worst performances this season on primetime.
The Broncos will play the Raiders in Oakland on Monday at 6:15 p.m. MT.
