The Las Vegas Raiders are unlikely to make the playoffs with a 2-6 record so far this 2025 NFL season. However, that doesn’t mean the season is lost. The Silver and Black still have a chance to focus on developing their young talent and could play spoiler down the stretch, beginning with their game against the Denver Broncos on November 6.
Still, earning a win over their AFC West rival won’t come easily for Las Vegas. The Raiders’ offense could be fighting uphill all night against a relentless Broncos pass rush. Denver tops the NFL with 40 team sacks, meaning veteran quarterback Geno Smith will likely face heavy pressure throughout the game.
Despite the Broncos being the better squad, with their 7-2 record, former Denver cornerback Aqib Talib is warning his former team not to take the Raiders lightly, considering that when it comes to division games, the records are out the window.
“It’s almost a trap game,” Talib said on the latest episode of “No Lie Zone.” “You could overlook them. They’re a bad team; [a] 2-6 team coming, but it’s still Pete Carroll, and it’s still a rivalry game. It’s still the Raiders. They [are] always going to come play you tough no matter what.
“First, we got to handle that business. That’s going to be on a short week. That’s going to be a dog fight. We’re going to have to win that s— in the fourth quarter. I don’t care what their record is.”
Raiders Are Also Being Warned About Broncos’ Pass Rush
Denver aren’t the only team receiving a warning ahead of the divisional matchup on “Thursday Night Football.” In the November 4 edition of “Upon Further Review,” former Raiders wide receiver James Jones shared his thoughts on what Las Vegas can anticipate when facing the Broncos’ pass rush.
“When you have a pass rush that can get after the quarterback, that’s letting the defensive backs know that, hey man, the quarterback got two seconds to throw this ball, which means we don’t got to bail on stuff,” Jones said. “We can sit on routes. We can gamble because we know we have the pass rush that can get after the quarterback.
“And that’s very, very dangerous because when you’re game planning for a pass rush like this, you can’t have too many seven-step, five-step dropbacks. The ball has to come out of the quarterback’s hands fast. You got to establish a run game.”
Raiders’ Potential Strategy to Beat Broncos’ Pass Rush
Although it’s easier said than done, there are strategies to counter the Broncos’ pass rush, which helps explain their two losses so far. Additionally, Denver has only narrowly beaten the Houston Texans, New York Jets, and New York Giants, showing that it’s possible to create tough matchups against them.
“It’s going to be key that the Raiders stay ahead of the sticks,” Jones added. “And what I mean by that is we got to stay in third-and-three, third-and-four. We cannot be in third-and-10 and third-and-nine and let this pass rush pin their ears back and get after Geno Smith, because whatever we think about our offensive line, this defensive line has done it to every offensive line that they’ve played this year.
“They are a really good front seven. So, we are going to have to make sure that we have a plan to not only protect but to get this ball out of Geno Smith’s hands fast.”
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