The Denver Broncos, now at 7-2, host the 2-6 Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday Night Football. Denver swept the Raiders in the 2024 NFL Season and look to win their third game in a row against the Silver and Black. Doing so would give the Broncos a seven-game win streak and put them at an insane 8-2 before a 10-day rest period leading up to Week 11.
Denver has two more games; hosting the Raiders and hosting the Kansas City Chiefs, before the bye in Week 12. You'd at least love to see the Broncos win one of these games and get to the bye 8-3, but two more wins is firmly on the table.
And while the Raiders have struggled all year and have won just two of their first eight games, they do have a 'one of one' player on offense who can make things tough, especially since Denver is going to be without star CB Patrick Surtain II for the second time this season.
Brock Bowers could tear up the Broncos' secondary if they aren't ready
Brock Bowers might already be the best tight end in football. He was a Pro Bowler and a first-team All-Pro during his first season in the NFL, amassing 112 receptions for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns. He's got a wide receiver's ability in a tight end body.
Bowers missed the entire month of October this year for the Raiders but returned in Week 9, and all he did was catch 12 passes on 13 targets for 127 yards and three touchdowns. Now having played 22 games in the NFL, Bowers has caught a whopping 74.1% of his targets for 1,546 yards and eight touchdowns.
He is simply someone who could have a long, successful, and frankly, future Hall of Fame career at the position. In Week 5 against the Denver Broncos back in 2024, Bowers hauled in eight receptions for 97 yards and a touchdowns.
With no Patrick Surtain II, it's going to be a huge challenge for Vance Joseph's unit to figure out how to attack Bowers. The Raiders are a bad team top to bottom but have an excellent player on offense, and Denver can't mess around here with Bowers, as he could propel them to a victory if Denver isn't careful in Week 10.
Luckily, the Raiders don't really have another overly-threatening player on offense besides Brock Bowers.