Another psychological angle presents itself: Broncos @ Raiders

The Raiders are in a world of hurt. They are playing in and for a city they've decided to dump (like being in a relationship with a woman that ended years ago but you can't leave until you can afford to pay the rent on your own) and are now being dumped by someone they really wanted but that doesn't want them because they cant shake off that losing stench (yes, I think Antonio Brown realized what losers these guys are going to be and sabotaged his relationship with them). Everything this team does is wrong. Its like Al Davis (the crazy version) is still haunting the team. Bad decision after bad decision. Between appearing on hard knocks, the AB episodes, and a coach who is a media person, how has this team been able to focus on football, and, more specifically, their opponents, who will be out for blood.

And now they face a Broncos team whose only focus/thought has been the Raiders. A Raider team, btw, that used the emotional surge of playing their "final game" at the Coliseum to beat the Broncos in the penultimate game of the season last year. That emotional angle is long gone. So are any good vibes this fan base had for the Raiders last year. What they do have is a crappy defense, a crappy offense, and crappy coaches. Fangio's defensive going up against Carr and Tom Cable's offensive line is a disaster waiting to happen: for the Raiders that is.

With all the distractions, the letdown of losing their best offensive weapon, playing in a town they've already left in their minds, and against a team that is out for revenge with a new coach and a QB who are trying to prove themselves, I have a very hard time seeing the Raiders win this game, though I suppose anything can happen.

The play: Broncos -2.5

BRAVO! Well stated. BOL

Great call on Niners BB, I should haves tailed you on that one. Winston is a bum to me and always has been, I have zero faith in that guy. Agree with the write up above. However, an interesting trend over the weekend was teams with new coaches had zero wins:

By far the most classic write up I have ever read especially since I just got off a merry go round of a relationship ! Shaking off the dizziness and getting my freedom back! 

Oh yeah and Broncos -2 HUGE !! 

Thanks, Jersey Don. Glad to hear you are free!

Bol tonight bb, great write-up and I'm on Denver for some similar reasons. 

How about this as a psychological angle on the the game...Oakland Raiders will play much better now that the players on this team have been freed from AB's toxic presence? 

Yes. That is certainly the other angle. i.e., that the Raiders will rally and use AB dissing them as motivation to win. But the problem is the time line. I think It will take longer than a few days to overcome all the damage this guy did to the team. The Raider players/coaches have been dealing with this drama and hearing questions about AB for a month, that's a lot of psychic/emotional energy to waste on one guy, a day or two off from responding to all that distraction is not going to magically make them a cohesive, focused unit.

Thanks Chauster. Good luck to you as well.

The Steelers didn't play any differently yesterday 33-3 without AB than they did with AB in the AFC conference game in Foxborough in 2016, they got their butts handed to them that day too 36-17. AB's presence made no difference. 
How did AB do that day...7 for 9 for 77 yards and zero TDs. 

Psychotic personalities have a way of infecting their hosts very quickly although AB's new Daddy won't allow that to happen without there being serious repercussions. Who knows??? maybe the New England experience will do him some good. 

I agree with you...

You're wrong about the fan base angle too... raiders fans are loyal to a fault, and MANY still support this team...

I like the bet. Although psycologically I think it should be the opposite effect. The Raiders are distracted and less prepared... fact. But imagine those guys in the locker room seeing that a diva that never bonded with them, is released and immediately after their spread goes down 4 pts+. Where is the respect to them? They want to prove the media, the sportsbooks, and AB wrong, and they`ll put all their testosterone to it. 

Now... the reason why I like the Broncos (and I would have much rather bet them at the previous numbers with AB playing), is the matchup of their rushing offense vs the Raiders rushing defense. I also like the matchup of Denvers D-line vs the Raiders O-line. This game is won in the trenches, and Denver has the upper hand there. 

I'm sure they'll be fired up, but how focused were they for the past month, while preparing for this game, all the while performing for the HBO cameras and fielding questions about AB. All the energy and passion is not going to help them when it comes to knowing/recalling coverages, audibles and who to block, etc.

Even that might work against them. Everyone will try to overcompensate and do too much (trying to make up for the loss of AB), instead of sticking with the game plan and justing doing their job.

get some BB.......GL

Win or lose, thanks for all you do BB. Your write ups is one of the reasons I log onto Covers. GL! 

This is a good write-up, BB.

Golly, jesus. No wonder fangio was not given a head coaching job all these years. He has as much enthusiasm and passion on the sideline as my grandfather's corpse. And he makes decisions about that quickly as well. How could Elway hire this guy as a head coach?