4 Reasons the Oakland Raiders can go undefeated in September
By Steve Rivera
Week 1: vs. Broncos
The Broncos have been looking for the good fortune that landed them in the Super Bowl not so long ago. Since Peyton Manning led them to that last Lombardi Trophy in 2016, general manager John Elway has been searching in vain for a quarterback to get them back.
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That search led them to Baltimore Ravens castoff Joe Flacco. That’s the same Flacco who led the Ravens to a championship in 2012 and was the Super Bowl MVP.
Without question, Flacco is an upgrade to the string of placeholders the Broncos have employed the past few seasons. Case Keenum, the 2018 idea that is now in Washington, may have been the best of the also-rans in the Mile High City since that championship run.
Fans will hope that Flacco still has something left in the tank. He hasn’t been particularly impressive having not posted a quarterback rating over 90 since 2014. He’s also slow-footed these days and won’t outrun many defenders.
Bottom line, the Broncos aren’t a juggernaut in the AFC West, and a good argument can be made that on offense, the better intangibles are on the Raiders side of the football.
Denver isn’t necessarily a ”lay-up” in Week 1 of the 2019 season. However, Flacco provides more questions, especially early on than does the Raiders. Based on that, you have to like Oakland getting in the win column to begin the season.