PLAYER NOTES
–QB Derek Carr, who last week broke Rich Gannon’s franchise record of 277 passes without an interception set in 2001, has not thrown a pick in the last nine games. Carr, who has pushed the record to 299, has passed for 3,697 yards this season and needs 303 in the last two games to reach 4,000 for the first time in his career.
–K Daniel Carlson tied two career records last week, making all three of his field-goal attempts, including a 50-yarder. Carlson has made his last 12 field-goal attempts and his last 11 extra points, and has missed only one of his 14 field-goal attempts since signing with the Raiders earlier this season.
–G Gabe Jackson was placed on injured reserve this week because of an elbow injury that kept him out of last week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals.
–CB Gareon Conley sustained a concussion in last week’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals and the Raiders hope he can play against the Broncos. He remained in concussion protocol early this week and it might help that he has an extra day to recover. After a slow start that caused him to be benched early this season, Conley has been the best player in the Oakland secondary recently. The Raiders No. 1 draft choice last year out of Ohio State has made 34 tackles this season and has two interceptions, one which he returned for a touchdown.
–T Donald Penn, who has been on injured reserve because of a groin injury since Oct. 3 and was eligible to be activated on Dec. 5, might be brought back for the last two games. “Donald is wide open,” head coach John Gruden said. “He wants to play. How many linemen are you going to have up? There is a chance he could be up this week. We’ll address that here in the next couple of days.” Penn started at left tackle for the Raiders the last few seasons and moved over to the right side this season when the Raiders drafted Kolton Miller in the first round.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: C Rodney Hudson has been the anchor of the Raiders’ offensive line for the last four seasons, making the Pro Bowl twice, and has done his best this year to hold together a young and injury-plagued group. Hudson, who has battled an ankle injury, and rookie tackle Kolton Miller are the only members of the front line who have played every game this season. Hudson was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate this week and has not given up a sack in 2018, while ranking first in pass-blocking efficiency and sixth in run-blocking, according to Pro Football Focus. Considering the circumstances, he might be having his best season.
GAME PLAN: The Raiders’ offense begins and ends with quarterback Derek Carr, who has passed for 3,697 yards and 19 touchdowns while going the last nine games without throwing an interception. However, the Raiders’ young and injury-plagued offensive line has to keep him upright, which is always a problem against pass-rusher deluxe Von Miller and his defensive pals in Denver. Carr has been sacked a career-high 47 times this season, but with time could have a big night against Denver’s banged-up secondary on his short to medium-range passes to tight end Jared Cook and wide receivers Jordy Nelson and Seth Roberts. Running backs Doug Martin and Jalen Richard also have been effective in the passing game, but Oakland averages only 99.1 yards rushing per game and has missed injured Marshawn Lynch for most of the season.
Defensively, Oakland must slow down undrafted rookie running back Phillip Lindsay, who is nine yards short of 1,000 yards for his rookie season, and force Broncos quarterback Case Keenum into passing situations in order to possibly force some turnovers. Keenum’s numbers, 15 touchdown passes and 12 interceptions, are not all that impressive, but he did drive Denver down the field for the game-winning field goal to beat the Raiders in Week 2. It’s been more difficult for Keenum and Lindsey since wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders went down with a torn Achilles tendon two weeks ago. Lindsay has been held to 54 yards rushing and 95 total yards in the last two games and the Raiders hope to limit him, too.
MATCHUPS TO WATCH
–Raiders T Kolton Miller vs. Broncos OLB Von Miller. Oakland’s rookie left tackle, their No. 1 pick out of UCLA, played well early this season, but has remained in the lineup despite a knee injury and struggled mightily at times on the edge. Miller allowed two more sacks and eight pressures last week against the Cincinnati Bengals, according to Pro Football Focus and leads the league by being responsible for 14 sacks and 49 pressures this season. Head coach Jon Gruden said the Raiders will give him extra help this week and he will need it against Von Miller, a ferocious pass rusher who has 14.5 sacks this season and 90 in his eight-year NFL career. Miller’s running mate Bradley Chubb has 12 sacks this year.
–Raiders rookie DTs P.J. Hall and Maurice Hurst vs. Broncos rookie RB Phillip Lindsay. Oakland’s run defense, which ranks last in the NFL this season by allowing an average of 146.4 yards per game on the ground, played reasonably well in consecutive games against the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers, but Joe Mixon of the Cincinnati Bengals gouged them for 129 yards and two touchdowns last Sunday. Lindsay, an undrafted rookie out of Colorado has been a sensation for the Broncos this season, rushing for 991 yards and nine touchdowns, in addition to catching 33 passes for 230 yards and another score. However, he has managed only a total of 54 rushing yards in the last two games and the Raiders must at least slow him down if they hope to win their last game in Oakland.
