For the record: Raiders — 2-4, three-way tie for second in the AFC West; Broncos — 2-4, three-way tie for second in the AFC West.
Last game: Oakland lost to San Francisco 17-9 in the first meeting between the Bay Area teams since 2006.
Who’s hot: The Raiders have one of the league’s better running games, with Michael Bush (who has missed time this season with an injury) and Darren McFadden combining for 596 yards rushing. The Raiders are averaging 130.2 yards rushing per game, 10th-best in the NFL.
Who’s not: JaMarcus Russell might be gone, but the Raiders’ quarterback woes are not. Jason Campbell on Sunday had a quarterback rating of 10.7 after completing only 8-of-21 passes for 83 yards, with two interceptions and two sacks, against San Francisco. Bruce Gradkowski, who replaced Campbell earlier this season, has a shoulder injury, and Campbell will have an MRI on his knee this week. That means Kyle Boller could play Sunday against the Broncos.
Key stat: The Raiders have scored only 11 touchdowns in six games, but the team has given up just 12 sacks.
FYI: Oakland has won its past two games at Invesco Field, 31-10 in 2008 and 20-19 last season, and is 20-30 all time in games at Denver.
Coachspeak: “The game really comes down to opportunity. We had a ton of opportunity offensively to score. We did not score, and we’re not very good in the red zone. We let them hang around,” Oakland coach Tom Cable, after his team didn’t score a touchdown in two trips inside San Francisco’s 10-yard line.
Lindsay H. Jones, The Denver Post
