The Denver Broncos are coming to town to face your Las Vegas Raiders and their first trip to Allegiant Stadium. All the talk this week has been around Denver QB Drew Lock and his prowess indoors during his young career — so we wanted to hear it from the locals about whether or not that could continue this week.
Thanks fo Joe Rowles from Mile High Report for taking the time to answer our questions:
S&BP: How is the health of this Broncos team, and is there any one position affected greater by injuries ahead of this one?
MHR: It’s a mess. They went without three of their four best cornerbacks last week. (LB) Von Miller and (WR) Courtland Sutton have played in all of one game this season. As for this week, there’s a possibility the Broncos may be down to their fifth-string right tackle Sunday.
S&BP: We’ve seen the reports, we’ve seen the stats, Drew Lock apparently dominates indoors. Is this something, in your opinion, that is likely to continue this weekend?
MHR: Lock has struggled for the better part of this season. Across the board all of his passing stats are down. He’s drinking from a firehose in the Pat Shurmur offense and trying to grasp all the complexities of reading an NFL defense while trying to refine his mechanics.
The last two weeks Lock has gotten hot late in by settling in and trusting his protection. He has the weapons to put up big numbers and there are guys getting open. It wouldn’t surprise me if Tim Patrick and Jerry Jeudy find a way to make some noise in the roomba.
S&BP: Finish the sentence: The Broncos will win this game unless ___.
MHR: Drew Lock starts seeing ghosts and bailing out of clean pockets.
S&BP: Who is one player on each side of the ball that Raiders fans should know about, or will know about, once this game is over?
MHR: He’s probably a familiar name, but Tim Patrick is going to be the big one. For most of this season, he’s been Lock’s favorite target. When Sutton went down for the year, he took over the X-receiver role in Shurmur’s offense and has had some really nice moments. Last week, a couple 50-50 balls didn’t go his way, but he wins above the rim and has sneaky speed for a 6’4” receiver.
I’d imagine Justin Simmons is a household name, so I’ll say on defense keep an eye out for Josey Jewell. He’s a big X-factor this week since Shelby Harris will miss the game. He has some athletic limitations, but has played far better than I dared hope.
S&BP: Prediction time: Who wins, what’s the final score?
MHR: It’s going to come down to the Broncos offense. I have no doubt Gruden will find ways to score some points. If Shurmur can find ways to keep his quarterback on track, Phillip Lindsay will score a big score that winds up the difference. 28-24.
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