Silver And Black Pride
The Denver Broncos’ lowest points output this season was a 10-point outing in Week 10 at home.
The opponent? The Las Vegas Raiders.
That game was the Thursday night AFC West clash that ended up 10-7. It was Denver’s seventh-straight win at the time (the team has won nine consecutive games now) and was Las Vegas’ third-straight loss (the team has sustained six consecutive defeats now).
Mother Nature had her say in that Nov. 6 nightcap as temperatures were in the low to mid-30s while wind gusts reached 25 miles per hour before the game. And said gusts didn’t dissipate affecting both team’s aerial attacks. That didn’t stop the Raiders defense from taking advantage though. None more a benefactor than cornerback Kyu Blu Kelly who snared two interceptions that night in early November — the first two of his trio of picks this season.
“Yeah, I like Kyu’s play style. I like, I’ve spoken about before, his resiliency. A bunch of teams, in and out of the lineup, stuff like that, but just go play, and then go play and go snatch the ball,” Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham said when asked about Kelly during media availability on Thursday. “And then Flo (Brian Flores) used to say it all the time, when you’re down there in the red area, something screwed up happened. So, like, really, now you’re measuring your mental toughness. And so, it would be stop the play on the two-yard line, keep fighting for every blade of grass, and then having interception last week, that was a positive. That was definitely positive.”
Since that game, Kelly snagged a red zone interception in the Raiders’ 31-14 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday giving the 24-year-old cornerback the team lead in picks at three.
But plenty has changed between Denver and Las Vegas since their clash earlier this season.
The Raiders played disciplined defense in that Nov. 6 matchup but mistakes — mental lapses, missed tackles, blow coverage, you name it — reared its ugly head the last three weeks. The Dallas Cowboys, Cleveland Browns, and Chargers each racked up yards and points against the Raiders. Dallas churned out 381 yards and 33 points in Week 11, Cleveland 270 and 24 in Week 12, and L.A. 341 and 31 this past week.
The Broncos, meanwhile, showed offensive strides in two tough games against the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11 (22-19 win) and a wire-to-wire 27-26 overtime win this past Sunday night at the Washington Commanders. Denver racked up 342 total yards against the Chiefs and 402 more against the Commanders.
Graham is taking a proper approach of clean slate while combining what worked well in early November against Denver.
“Each week, you start over, but definitely, because it’s such a short period of time since we played them. So, familiarity with the first whatever many games, eight or nine games, and then getting caught up in the last few plus our games,” Graham explained. “So,...
