Silver And Black Pride
While recent game day FEED discussions have focused on players who have something to prove for the Las Vegas Raiders, the Week 14 matchup against the Denver Broncos features a battle of elite NFL talents that can’t be ignored: tight end Brock Bowers versus cornerback Pat Surtain II.
Both players are coming off historic campaigns from last season, with Bowers breaking rookie records and earning a first-team All-Pro bid, and Surtain won the Defensive Player of the Year award. Injuries have held both players back this season, but make no mistake about it, they’re two of the best at their respective positions and are healthy heading into Sunday.
Granted, it’s not normal for a No. 1 corner to follow or guard a tight end much. However, as outlined in this week’s key matchups, the Broncos essentially treated Bowers like a No. 1 wide receiver last season. They put Surtain on him during the second half of the first game and then for the majority of the second contest. That significantly impacted the 2024 first-round pick’s production.
Unfortunately, Surtain was injured during the first contest between these two teams about a month ago, so this will be Bowers’ one and only chance at redemption this year. Seeing as the strategy worked out well for Denver’s defensive coordinator Vance Joseph last season, I’d expect Joseph to keep it going now that the corner is healthy.
Also, the chess match between Joseph and interim offensive coordinator Greg Olson will be interesting to watch. While Bowers has been split out wide for two-thirds of his pass snaps this season, per Pro Football Focus, he was used as an in-line tight end 41.4 percent of the time last week, Olson’s first game as the offensive play caller in 2025. That was the second-year pro’s highest percentage since Week 4.
Will Olson continue that strategy on Sunday? If he does, will Joseph counter by essentially having Surtain play as a strong safety rather than a traditional cornerback? The latter could depend on how much the Broncos respect the rest of the Raiders’ receiving corps.
So, for this week’s gameday topic on The FEED, we’ll keep tabs on this one-on-one battle. The game kicks off at 1:05 p.m. PST and will air on CBS (check your local listings). I look forward to talkin’ some ball with y’all!
