This game could get ugly quickly for the Raiders who have only scored 50 points in their last six games!  The Broncos pounded the Raiders 41-14 and they always try to run it up on them as Mike Shanahan hates Al Davis.  The Raiders will likely keep the ball on the ground against a Broncos’ defense that is allowing 143.1 yards rushing per game and 4.5 ypc.  The Raiders will then attack the Broncos will play action deep passing with JaMarcus Russell throwing the ball against a Broncos’ defense allowing 243.5 yards passing per game and opposing QBs have a 100.1 QB Rating against Denver.

The Denver Broncos will likely try to jump the Raiders in the passing game with Jay Cutler tossing the football to Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal.  Brandon Stokley and Tony Scheffler will give the safeties of the Raiders all kinds of problems in this football game.  Peyton Hillis, P.J. Pope and Tatum Bell should all have decent games against a Raiders’ defense allowing 164.5 yards rushing per game and 4.8 ypc.

PREDICTION:  DENVER BRONCOS 45, OAKLAND RAIDERS 17

The Raiders will likely play the rest of the 2008 season without WR Javon Walker who needs ankle surgery.  Walker played in 8 games for the Raiders this season and he caught 15 passes for 196 yards (13.1 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Losing Walker shouldn’t hurt the Raiders too bad as they can’t throw the football anyway.

The Raiders have claimed CB/KR Justin Miller off waivers from the Jets.  The 24-year old Miller only had 1 tackle and returned 1 kickoff for 22 yards for the Jets this season before his release.  But, Miller is has a lot of potential especially as a return man.  Miller has played in 35 games in his NFL career and he has made 98 tackles and has forced 1 fumble.  Miller has also returned 6 punts for 9 yards (1.5 avg).  But, his big calling in the NFL is returning kickoffs as he has returned 109 of them for 2,951 yards (27.1 avg) with 3 TDs.  This was a nice low risk/high reward addition for the Raiders as Miller is a talented football player.

The Raiders have signed linebacker Marquis Cooper.  The 26-year old Cooper has played in 34 games (0 starts) in his NFL career and he has made 32 tackles.  Cooper will provide depth on defense and help out on special teams but don’t expect a whole lot out of him.

The Raiders have placed safety Tyvon Branch and linebacker Robert Thomas on the Injured Reserve List ending there seasons.  Branch has a injured shoulder which has put him out of action.  He played in 8 games for the Raiders this season and he made 10 tackles, intercepted 1 pass and defensed 1 pass.  Thomas injured a hamstring and that’s what ended his season.  Thomas played in 2 games for the Raiders this season and he made 2 whole tackles.  The Raiders won’t miss either of these guys as they weren’t very productive.

The Raiders have waived CB DeAngelo Hall just 8 games after signing him to a huge free agent deal in the off season.  Hall played in 8 games for the Raiders this season and he made 49 tackles, had 1/2 a sack, had 3 interceptions and he defensed 13 passes.  The Raiders appear to have lost their minds in the front office as they are making Hall a scapegoat for awful all around play by the defense.  He was quickly snapped up by the Washington Redskins.

The Raiders have lost starting fullback Justin Griffith for the season due to a torn ACL.  Griffith played in 7 games for the Raiders this season and he carried the ball 2 times for 2 yards (1.0 ypc).  He also caught 9 passes for 85 yards (9.4 avg) with a TD grab.  This will hurt the Raiders running game a bit as Griffith is a solid blocker.

The Falcons are a surprising 4-3 on the season while the Raiders are 1-1 under new head coach Tom Cable.  The Falcons will likely attack the Raiders on the ground first with Michael Turner (655 yards rushing, 4.5 ypc, 6 TDs) and Jerious Norwood (285 yards rushing, 6.3 ypc) as the Raiders allow 144.1 yards rushing per game and 4.5 ypc.  As soon as the Raiders cheat up to stop the Falcons running game look for rookie QB Matt Ryan to throw deep on play action getting the ball to Roddy White.  White has been unstoppable this season and the Raiders allow 218.4 yards passing per game.

The Raiders will also come out running the football as they average 129.3 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry.  The Falcons’ defense doesn’t really do anything well allowing 128.6 yards rushing per game and 232.9 yards passing per game so this could be the game that JaMarcus Russell plays well.  Coach Cable has wanted to take the training wheels off of Russell and this is the perfect opportunity to do it.

PREDICTION:  ATLANTA FALCONS 24, OAKLAND RAIDERS 20