Las Vegas Raiders vs. Denver Broncos NFL Week 6 prediction: First game without Jon Gruden
It was a chaotic week for the Las Vegas Raiders with the resignation of Jon Gruden as the head coach following an email scandal.
Stepping in is Rich Bisaccia, the team’s special teams coordinator.
Named interim head coach, Bisaccia will look to get the Raiders going and try to snap a two-game losing streak.
The Raiders will visit the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High. Kickoff is set for 1:25 p.m.
Bisaccia said he’ll lean on running backs coach Tim Berbenich to be his eyes in the booth when he’s on the sidelines.
“He’ll help me with game management, along with on the sideline Oly (Greg Olson) and Coach (Tom) Cable and Gus (Bradley), I’ll rely on them as well. But Tim will be the guy upstairs that I will be talking to the most.”
Maybe this will be the start for the Raiders to get off to a fast start after starting off slow in previous games.
The Raiders were plagued by slow starts each of the past two games, while playing the Los Angeles Chargers and Chicago Bears.
But it won’t be easy going into Denver, especially having to face a tough defense that’s ranked third (292.4 yards allowed per game) in the NFL, led by star pass rusher Von Miller.
The Raiders’ defense is no slouch, either, ranking 11th overall in team defense (339.8) and fourth in pass defense (205.4 yards allowed per game).
But the biggest key for the Raiders this game still might be whether the offense can get going quickly.
The matchup and the pick
Kickoff: 1:25 p.m. PDT Sunday at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh
Fresno TV/radio: KGPE (Ch. 47.1)/ ESPN (AM 1430)
Records: Raiders 3-2; Broncos 3-2
Line: Broncos favored by 4.5
Anthony Galaviz’s prediction: Broncos 24, Raiders 20
Analysis: We whiffed on last week’s prediction against the Chicago Bears, but so did the Raiders in that embarrassing loss. ... This week, most experts are siding with the Broncos in this AFC West matchup. ... For the Raiders to win this game, the offense needs to start fast. That will always be the key. The defense has been playing well so far and kept the team in games. But the offense is playing flat in the first half and that can’t happen again if the Raiders want to get back on the win column. They are more than capable of doing that, but that needs to happened on a consistent basis. ... Until we see that happening, we’re siding with the Broncos in this game.
