Denver Broncos 2019 Opponent Preview: Oakland Raiders

The Denver Broncos will begin and end their season with two more installments of their rivalry against the Oakland Raiders.

The 2019 season for the Denver Broncos looks a bit tough. Nearly half of their schedule involves teams that were in the postseason last year. In fact, the Denver Broncos have the second toughest schedule in the NFL.

The only team with the more difficult schedule is the team that the Denver Broncos will open up and conclude the regular season with. With one more year left in Oakland, the Raiders will be playing their final year in California before they potentially move to Las Vegas in 2020. Denver travels to Oakland for a Monday Night Football battle in Week One and then welcome the Raiders in Week 17.

The Raiders finished 2018 at 4-12, which put them in last place in the AFC West. Although one of their four wins came against the Broncos.

The offseason for them was quite interesting early on. They acquired former Steelers wide out superstar Antonio Brown in a trade that did not see them give up much. The team was also able to acquire long time Bronco Brandon Marshall in free agency one month before the draft.

The draft was a bit of a head scratcher, to me. They took Clelin Ferrell with their fourth overall pick. Ferrell would have likely been available later on in the first round. They made a solid pick with their second first round pick and drafted Josh Jacobs but went right back to head scratcher moment when they drafted Jonathan Abram.

The rest of the draft saw them focus mostly on defense, which makes sense given how they were dead last in points allowed and bottom three in rushing yards allowed. The Raiders are a team that are very tricky to predict at this time. But given the history between the two teams, I expect a hard fought battle in both games.