Denver Broncos: 3 Takeaways vs. Raiders in Week 4
By Bruce Matson
3. Eating Beast a la Mode
The Broncos defense made sure to serve Marshawn Lynch a little bit of Orange Crush this Sunday. Lynch was left with nowhere to run, and wasn’t able to make anything happen on the grown against a stout Denver defense. He rushed for a dismal 12 yards on nine carries, averaging just 1.3 yards per carry. His longest run of the day was a meager four yards. Take that run away, and he’s averaging 1.0 yards per attempt on the rest of his carries.
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This is very encouraging, because earlier this offseason, Lynch was billed as the final piece to put the Raiders over the hump. But the Broncos were able to eliminate that thought by completely stopping him, making him look like a middling talent.
Denver might be the best defense in the league at stopping the run. In Week 3, they held LeSean McCoy to just 21 yards rushing with a 1.5 yards per carry average. And in Week 2, they stifled Dallas Cowboys’ Ezekiel Elliott to a dismal eight yards rushing with a 0.9 yards per carry average.
Melvin Gordon couldn’t get anything going against Denver’s offense either, rushing for just 54 yards on 18 carries, equating to a 3.0 yards per carry average. In their first four games, the Broncos defense held Gordon, Elliott, McCoy and Lynch to just 95 rushing yards with a 1.9 yards per carry average.