While Oakland has struggled in every area, the team's biggest weakness has been defending against the pass. The Raiders have looked very bad in this phase of the game throughout the season, and that was against quarterbacks named Ryan Tannehill, Geno Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick. On Sunday, they'll have to try and figure out a way to slow down one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play the game in Peyton Manning.
The Raiders are second to last in the NFL with only eight sacks. While the Oakland pass rush has improved since Tony Sparano took over as interim head coach, the impact plays still aren't there. But to stop Manning, the Raiders are going to have to figure out a way to get into backfield and sack him—or at the very least make him uncomfortable and throw off his timing.
Even without the pass rush making an impact, the Raiders can still hope to minimize Manning's effectiveness by simply keeping the ball out of his hands. Unfortunately, this is another area where Oakland has struggled badly. Per TeamRankings.com, the Raiders are last in the league with an average time of possession per game of only 26:14.
The offense has had trouble picking up first downs and staying on the field, but this is going to be crucial to slowing down the potent Denver attack.
The Raiders have their work cut out for them, but the team has steadily improved over the past four weeks. Denver is the clear favorite, but Oakland certainly has a chance to come away with a win if it can find success in a few key areas.
Here's a full breakdown of Sunday's game. Kickoff is at 4:05 p.m. ET live from O.co Coliseum.
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Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
