NFL Picks Week 9: Tim Tebow’s Best Effort Won’t Be Enough for vs. Raiders

On Sunday, we're going to get a game between two of the more enigmatic, unknown entities in the NFL.

The Denver Broncos and their young quarterback, Tim Tebow, will travel west to take on their hated division rivals, the Oakland Raiders. Between Tebow and the Raiders, we have no idea what to expect. 

Well, yes we do.

Tebow has started two games this year. In those two games, he's been quite ineffective for the overwhelming majority of the time. Yet, he's 1-1 this season. Go figure. 

Opposing him will be the Oakland Raiders, a team that can beat any team in the league, but also lose to any team in the league. In the parity era of the NFL, that applies to most about every team in the league, but the Raiders seem to be the poster children of the "Any Given Sunday" slogan. 

On this given Sunday, the Raiders will beat Tebow and the Broncos.

It's not that I think Tebow doesn't bring any positives. I do expect him to run around a little bit and make some big plays. The Raiders' defense is nowhere near as daunting as the Lions' group that just beat him in Denver. 

So, I am not expecting this game to be that bad. But the Raiders are a better team than the Broncos. Playing at home, it's really hard to see them losing.



I don't expect another six-interception game from Raider quarterbacks. Now that Carson Palmer has had a few weeks to get acclimated to the offense and back into the game, I see him having a far better showing than the one we saw against the Chiefs, which was just horrendous.

Frankly, I don't know what to expect in the AFC West. The Chiefs are certainly the team trending in the right direction now. Their wins against the Raiders and Chargers gave them a huge edge for the second-half run. 

On paper, both the Raiders and Chargers are better teams, but they are both horribly inconsistent.

Bu...

About the Author