The Las Vegas Raiders Week 11 matchup with the Denver Broncos seemed like a marquee game before the season started but now is an almost unwatchable mess. This Raiders-Broncos tilt features a 2-7 Raiders team vs. a 3-6 Broncos squad in a game that is closer to a battle for a top draft pick than a playoff spot. Even though this game should be ugly, we’re still going to make some bold Raiders Week 11 predictions.
Derek Carr was nearly in tears after last week’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts. In his postgame presser, he made comments that made it sound like first-year head coach Josh McDaniels has lost the locker room just nine games into the season. Combine that with the injuries to key players like Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow, and you have the recipe for a disaster.
On the Broncos’ side, things aren’t much better. The Russell Wilson Era isn’t anywhere near as good as Broncos fans thought it would be when the franchise traded for him in the offseason. The only silver lining here is that the Denver defense is playing at an incredibly high level and is the reason the team is competitive.
The winner of this game will have a slight glimmer of hope moving forward that they can at least make their season respectable and creep toward .500. The loser is likely headed for a top-five pick in the 2023 NFL Draft. With that in mind, here are four bold Raiders Week 11 predictions.
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4. Maxx Crosby will continue to be the bright spot of the Raiders D
After the acquisition of All-Pro pass-rusher Chandler Jones, the Raiders were supposed to have one of the most fearsome edge-rushing attacks in the league. However, Jones has been a bust so far, with just one tackle for a loss and 0.5 sacks this season.
The Raiders, in general, just aren’t getting to the QB. They are dead last in the league, with only 10 sacks on the season.
And amazingly (and disappointingly) Maxx Crosby has 7.0 of those sacks. That puts him in the top 10 of the league this season, but one player having 70% of a team’s sacks isn’t a recipe for success.
All that said, Russell Wilson is the third most-sacked quarterback in the NFL this year, with 29 on the season. That’s why the bold Raiders Week 11 prediction here is that Crosby gets home in this game (twice!), but no one else does.
3. Josh Jacobs hurts Denver again
One of the Raiders' two wins on the season came back in Week 4 vs. the Broncos. In that game, Raiders running back Josh Jacobs was phenomenal. He had 28 carries for 144 yards and two touchdowns.
Josh Jacobs has the moves!
📺: #DENvsLV on CBS
📱: Stream on NFL+ https://t.co/qvpR1tCMp1 pic.twitter.com/lKggZOh2Bf— NFL (@NFL) October 2, 2022
In a season where almost no one is playing well, Jacobs, who will be a free agent after the season, is putting as much as he can on tape for his next employer. He is currently fourth in the league in rushing with 821 yards.
In the Week 11 Raiders-Broncos matchup, Denver will again see a lot of No. 28. Some of that is because Jacobs is the team’s best weapon this year, and some of that is because there are increasingly few options on the Raiders offense due to injury.
The Broncos will be more ready for Jacobs this time around, and the unit has improved from seven weeks ago. Since the Raiders put up 32 points on the Broncos, the Dever D hasn’t allowed more than 19 in a single game.
Look for Jacobs to have another excellent game in Week 11, but not the same dominant performance from Week 4.
2. The Raiders offensive struggles continue vs. the Broncos No. 1 defense
At some point, no matter how good Josh Jacobs is in this game, the Raiders will have to rely on Derek Carr in the red zone, and that hasn’t gone well this season.
The Silver and Black are 23rd in the league in red zone conversion rate (51.9%) and 24th in red zone touchdowns (14). Those numbers stand to get even worse as their two most dangerous red zone threats, Darren Waller and Hunter Renfrow, won’t play Sunday.
On the flip side, the Broncos defense is No. 1 in red zone conversion rate (28.6%) and has only allowed six red zone touchdowns this year, five less than the second-place Los Angeles Rams.
There’s almost nothing worse in the NFL than long, sustained drives that end in field goals. Unfortunately, this bold Raiders Week 11 prediction is that FGs are exactly what fans will see on Sunday.
1. Raiders 12, Broncos 21
The Raiders Week 4 win vs. the Broncos now seems like an aberration, and the final bold Raiders Week 11 prediction is that Raiders-Broncos II will go the other way.
Without being constantly under pressure, Russell Wilson will be able to tell his team, “Let’s Ride!” And that means, even possibly without wide receivers Jerry Jeudy, KJ Hamler, and Kendall Hinton, Wilson should move the ball enough to get in the end zone a few times.
As for the Raiders, Jacobs should have another good game, but in the red zone, the Broncos D will bow up and hold the Raiders to field goals only, causing them to lose to their division rival 21-12.
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