Take a photographic trip through the series history between the Broncos and the Raiders.
1977 AFC Championship Game
1977 AFC Championship Game
In a thrilling game capped by a game-winning Jason Elam field goal as time expired, Ring of Fame RB Terrell Davis also scored the last touchdown of his career.
With the Broncos' 2016 first-round draft pick Paxton Lynch set to make his first start of the 2017 season, it occurred to me that there have been a number of interesting notes in relation to the Broncos, the Raiders and the quarterback position.
The Broncos and Raiders both started off as complete ragtag operations, the two teams far and away the worst in the American Football League during the league's inception years, and both teams have gone on to be among the nine franchises that have won the Super Bowl three or more times.
It will be fascinating for all Broncos fans to watch Lynch take this big step in his career Sunday, but it will not be the first big moment for a Denver quarterback against the Raiders.
This rundown of the five most intriguing individual matchups in Sunday's Broncos vs. Raiders game begins with Paxton Lynch.
Paxton Lynch will define Sunday's game as a success if he simply comes away with a victory, but a key to achieving that will be avoiding turnovers. The good news for Lynch and the Broncos is that the Raiders have not had an interception all season. But that doesn't mean safety Karl Joseph and the Oakland defense can't end that streak this week. Lynch will still have to be careful with his decisions on the road to make sure the Broncos stop their losing streak from hitting seven in a row.
Devontae Booker received his largest workload of the season against the Bengals, rushing 14 times for 44 yards and catching five passes for 54 yards. If he continues to get a larger role in the offense, Booker will have to work to get past veteran linebacker NaVorro Bowman, who will make his fifth start with the Raiders. In his four games since joining the Raiders as a midseason addition, Bowman has helped Oakland's defense hold three opposing teams to fewer than 100 yards on the ground. Booker must help the Broncos avoid falling into that category.
Though the Raiders offense has looked less potent than it was last year, it's still quite dangerous, and the man at the center of it all is a main reason why. To keep Derek Carr from finding his explosive receivers, Denver's pass rush will have to take away his time in the pocket. Von Miller's efforts will be key there, and if the Broncos are to come away with their first win in Oakland since 2015, they'll need the kind of strip-sack play he came up with in that game.
After A.J. Green and the Bengals beat him on a couple of occasions, Bradley Roby will have to bounce back in Oakland against a deep group of receivers led by Amari Cooper. Though Cooper may draw a matchup against Aqib Talib for much of the day, Roby will surely gets his looks against the Raiders' top wideout. Cooper may not have the most receiving yards or touchdown on his team right now, but he's still Derek Carr's favorite target, as he's had 84 passes thrown his way so far this season, the most on the team. That means Roby should get some chances to get his hands on the ball, which is always a risky move for opposing quarterbacks.
If Allen Barbre makes his fourth start at right tackle on Sunday, he'll face one of the toughest pass rushers the NFL has to offer in Khalil Mack. Though he only has 5.5 sacks so far this season, Mack is still a danger to opposing quarterbacks with his speed and strength, and Barbre will have to keep him off balance and out of Paxton Lynch's face to help the young quarterback have a good chance at delivering a victory.
Back in the inaugural season of 1960, future Broncos Ring of Famer Frank Tripucka beat Oakland at home for the first time when he led Denver to a 31-14 victory at old Bears Stadium on Oct. 2. Interestingly, his opponent at quarterback that day was Tom Flores, who still does color for the Raiders' radio broadcasts and is a man I am honored to have as a friend.
Tripucka's backup was George Herring, and while he only had four starts with the Broncos, his first was against the Raiders in a 1961 game at Candlestick Park. The Raiders truly were nomads in those early years, with no games actually played in the city of Oakland until 1962.
George Shaw, who was best known as the quarterback beaten out by Johnny Unitas in Baltimore, also had a brief stint in Denver and started just one regular season game for the Broncos — a 44-7 win over the Raiders at Bears Stadium in 1962.
In 1963, the rotating Broncos quarterback duo of John McCormick and Mickey Slaughter each had one start against Oakland — in a span of just 18 days.
McCormick went on be an executive at Coors, and Slaughter returned to his alma mater as quarterback coach, with four-time future Super Bowl champion Terry Bradshaw his most notable pupil. Oddly, McCormick and Slaughter each had one start against the Raiders in 1965, as well, and this time the starts came in back-to-back weeks.
During the year in between — 1964 — the only "lend-lease" quarterback in football history, Jacky Lee, made a start in a Denver loss at Oakland. The quarterback-starved Broncos had literally acquired Lee on a loan for two years from the Houston Oilers.
Many quarterbacks played for the Broncos in those bad years of the 1960s, and Denver went just 2-24-2 against the Raiders from 1963 through 1976, but future Ring of Famer Charley Johnson engineered one of those wins, a 30-23 win in 1972 at the Oakland Coliseum.
The Broncos made history on Jan. 1, 1978, when they earned their first trip to the Super Bowl with a win over the Raiders at Mile High Stadium, with AFC Player of the Year Craig Morton engineering the victory.
Certainly, that was the high moment of Broncos history to that point, and somehow it just seemed fitting that it came against the Raiders.
In the 16-year period during which Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway began his fabulous domination of the Rocky-Mountain region, the Broncos had great success against everyone, including the Raiders.
Elway was the only AFC quarterback to start three Super Bowls in the 1980s, and he led the Broncos to consecutive world championships a decade later, leading late Raiders executive Al LoCasale to utter two great quotes to me about our quarterback: "No game is over as long as Elway is still on his feet," and "the Raider definition of a great player is someone who consistently makes great plays — that win games — and that is Elway."
In the immediate aftermath of Elway's career, Brian Griese got the first win of his pro career at Oakland in a 16-13 win during the 1999 season.
In 2003, Jake Plummer beat the Raiders to earn his first home win as a Denver quarterback. That victory was a 31-10 affair in Week 3 after the Broncos began their season with two road games.
In Jay Cutler's first full year as the Broncos' starting quarterback, his first home win also came at the expense of Oakland, a thrilling 23-20 overtime triumph at Invesco Field in 2007.
Later, Peyton Manning led the Broncos to seven straight wins over Oakland during his four-year stint in Denver.
In the 58 years of play between the Broncos and Raiders, the fascination with firsts continues again Sunday when Paxton Lynch lines up at Oakland in his first meeting against one of Denver's legendary rivals.
Should Lynch find success, he'll add his name to a long — and memorable — list.
