RB Darren McFadden has totaled 723 rushing yards with 5 TDs vs. Denver in his career. Photo by Tony Gonzales.
The Oakland Raiders hit the road for their first prime-time game of the season, as they face the Denver Broncos on ESPN's Monday Night Football on Monday, September 23. Monday's contest is the first of the year between the two squads, who will meet again in the season finale in Oakland. The Raiders will try to build on the momentum they gained last week, as they picked up their first win of the season at home over Jacksonville, 19-9. The Broncos return home after winning decisively at the New York Giants, 41-23.
The Raiders enter Monday's contest coming off a win in their home opener over the Jaguars. Oakland's offensive attack was paced by a strong run game, as it got 226 rushing yards on the afternoon. RB Darren McFaddenled the way with 129 rushing yards, including three runs of 20-or-more yards. McFadden also added 28 yards receiving. QB Terrelle Pryoradded 50 rushing yards, in addition to finishing 15-of-24 for 126 yards through the air. The defense, which has recorded nine sacks through the first two games, allowed just 34 rushing yards. FS Charles Woodson led the way with with six tackles.
Denver returns home after flying to the Eastern time zone and beating the Giants, 41-23. QB Peyton Manning followed up his seven-TD-pass performance in Week 1 by going 30-of-43 for 307 yards and 2 TDs in the victory. The offense totaled 416 yards, and Denver got a special teams score when WR Trindon Holliday returned a punt 81 yards for a score.The Broncos' defense also forced four interceptions.
Following Sunday's contest, the Raiders and Broncos will both host NFC East opponents, as the Raiders take on the Redskins in Oakland and the Broncos play the Eagles in Week 4.
"This will be the best team that we've faced and they're very talented, so we're going to have to do a good job of changing things up and mixing some things up, mixing some looks and be able to play a good, team game." -- Raiders Head Coach Dennis Allen
Notable Connections
Pro Connections
- Raiders Head Coach Dennis Allenserved as the defensive coordinator for the Broncos during the 2011 season. During that season, Allen's defense improved 12 spots over the previous year in overall defense ranking (from 32nd to 20th) and bettered their points allowed by eight spots (32nd to 24th).
- Raiders DE Jason Hunterplayed for Denver from 2010-12. In the 2011 season opener vs. Oakland, Hunter recorded six tackles, a sack and a forced fumble.
- Raiders CB Tracy Porterplayed for the Broncos during the 2012 season.
- Raiders defensive assistant Travis Smithis the son of Broncos linebackers coach Richard Smith.
- Broncos Head Coach John Foxwas the defensive coordinator for the Raiders during the 1994-95 season. Under Fox, the Raiders defense finished in the top half of the league in both of his seasons.
- Broncos quarterbacks coach Greg Knappserved as the offensive coordinator for the Raiders during the 2012 season. Knapp lead the Raiders offense to the eighth-ranked passing unit in the league.
College Connections
- Raiders offensive assistant Nick Holzwas a wide receiver and holder for three seasons at the University of Colorado.
- Raiders TE Nick Kasawent to the University of Colorado from 2009-12. During his senior season, he was fourth on the team in receptions and third in yards, while having a team-best eight receptions of 20 yards or longer.
- Raiders G Mike Brisielattended Colorado State University from 2001-04 and was an All-Mountain West Conference honorable mention in 2004.
- Broncos executive V.P. of football operations John Elwayattended Stanford University, finishing with five major NCAA Division 1-A records and nine major Pac-10 marks. As a senior, Elway was a consensus All-American and finished second in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
Broncos from California
- There are 10 Broncos players from California: CB Omar Bolden(Ontario), LS Aaron Brewer(Fullerton), T Ryan Clady(Rialto), TE Virgil Green(Tulare), RB Ronnie Hillman(Long Beach), S Duke Ihenacho(San Mateo), DE Malik Jackson(Northridge), S Rahim Moore(Los Angeles), TE Julius Thomas(Stockton), RB C.J. Anderson(Vallejo).
Raiders From Colorado
- There are two Raiders players from Colorado: DE Lamarr Houston(Colorado Springs), TE Nick Kasa(Thorton).
Key Notes & Numbers
Sacking from the Secondary
Through two games, the Raiders are tied atop the NFL with nine sacks. Of those nine sacks, a league-high five are from defensive backs. CB Tracy Porter and S Usama Young lead the way with 1.5 each, while S Tyvon Branch and S Brandian Ross have each recorded one. No other team has more than two.
The Raiders scored a TD on their opening drive Sunday as FB Marcel Reecescored on an 11-yard run. It was the first time Oakland had scored a TD on their opening possession since 2011, when they reached the end zone on 1/1/12 via a three-yard TD pass from former QB Carson Palmer to WR Darrius Heyward-Bey.
Broncos Snapshot
Overview:The Denver Broncos have started the 2013 season in impressive fashion. In John Fox's third season as head coach of the team, Denver opened the 2013 NFL season with a prime-time victory over the reigning Super Bowl Champion Baltimore Ravens, 49-27. Denver followed up their impressive home opener by traveling to the East Coast to defeat the New York Giants, 41-23.
Offense:Twelve-time Pro Bowl QB Peyton Manninghas picked up right where he left off in 2012. Through just two games, Manning has already amassed over 760 yards and nine TDs. During the season opener against the Ravens, Manning threw for 462 yards and seven touchdowns. Last week against the Giants, he tacked on another 307. The Broncos are currently ranked 20th in overall rush yards and are led by RB Knowshon Morenowith 121 total yards and two TDs.
Defense:Through the first two weeks of the NFL season, the Broncos are ranked number 21 in overall defense, allowing 384.5 yards per game. While they are ranked towards the middle of the pack, the Denver rush defense has been stellar and is the top-ranked run defense in the league, allowing only 81 yards on the ground thus far. S Duke Ihenachocurrently leads the defensive unit in tackles with 18 total.
Standouts vs. Broncos
WR Jacoby Ford
- In his career vs. the Broncos, Ford has totaled 13 receptions for 189 yards and 1 TD.
- On 11/6/11 at home vs. Denver, Ford posted the third-most receiving yards in a game in his career, racking up 105 yards on five catches in the contest.
K Sebastian Janikowski
- In the 2011 season opener at Denver, Janikowski tied an NFL record with a 63-yard field goal at the end of the first half.
- In his career, Janikowski has connected on 31-of-39 field goals vs. the Broncos and made 52-of-53 extra points.
RB Darren McFadden
- McFadden has totaled 723 rushing yards with 5 TDs vs. Denver in his career.
- McFadden posted the second-highest rushing performance of his career vs. the Broncos on 10/24/10, when he rushed for 165 yards. The game kicked off a stretch where he would rush for at least 119 yards in three-straight games vs. Denver.
What to Look For
S Tyvon Branch
- Needs one sack to tie No. 3 Albert Lewis (8.0, 1994-98) on the franchise's career list among defensive backs. He enters the game with seven after recording one last week against Indianapolis.
LS Jon Condo
- With three more consecutive games played, Condo will reach 100-consecutive games played. Condo has not missed a game since the streak began, in Week 1 of the 2007 season.
WR Jacoby Ford
- Needs 181 kickoff return yards to pass Doug Gabriel for 8th place and 224 yards to pass George Atkinson for seventh on the Raiders' all-time KOR yards list.
K Sebastian Janikowski
- Has now converted on 131 consecutive PAT attempts.
- Needs just 93 points to reach 1,500 for his career.
RB Rashad Jennings
- Needs 22 rushing yards to reach 1,000 for his career. He currently stands at 978.
RB Darren McFadden
- Needs 129 rushing yards to move into eighth place on the Raiders' all-tme rushing list.
- Needs two rushing TDs to tie No. 10 Michael Bush (21, 2008-11) on the franchise's career list, four to tie No. 9 Marv Hubbard (22, 1969-75) and six to tie No. 8 Charlie Smith (24, 1968-74). McFadden enters the game with 19.
- Needs 5 receiving yards to eclipse 1,500 yards for his career.
WR Denarius Moore
- Needs 98 receiving yards to reach 1,500 for his career.
QB Terrelle Pryor
- Currently leads all quarterbacks with 162 rushing yards. Pryor could eclipse the Raiders' single-season mark of rushing yards by a quarterback with just 368 more yards. Rich Gannon set the mark in 2000 with 529.
FS Charles Woodson
- Needs six interceptions to tie Ed Reed for first on the interceptions list among all active players with 61.
- Needs one INT-TD to tie Rod Woodson for first on the all-time list with 12.
- Needs one defensive touchdown to tie Rod Woodson and Darren Sharper for the most defensive touchdowns in NFL history with 13.
