OAKLAND
Jamel Dean Jersey , Calif. (AP) — For the Raiders, playing out the string of another losing season has become an all-too-regular occurrence in recent years. They are on their way to their 12th season with double-digit losses in the past 16 years.For the Denver Broncos, it’s rather new territory.The Broncos (6-8) head into Monday night’s game at Oakland (3-11) needing to win their final two games to avoid their first back-to-back losing campaigns since 1971-72.Article continues below ...“We want to win. These next two games are important for us to finish the right way,” coach Vance Joseph said. “That part is very important to me. It’s about winning. That’s what it’s about. It’s not about losing, it’s about winning. That’s very important to our football team and our coaches.”The Broncos have by far the longest streak in the NFL without consecutive losing seasons with New England holding the next longest, having last done it in 1992-93.Denver began the month with playoff aspirations after beating Cincinnati to get to 6-6. But back-to-back losses to San Francisco and Cleveland ended those hopes and had the Broncos looking for other goals.“Me personally, I just want to finish strong,” cornerback Bradley Roby said. “Hopefully get some more turnovers. I only have three so far this year and I just want to make some more. I love to play and I love to make turnovers. That’s my focus, just to have fun.”The Raiders are just hoping to get out of this season without more injuries. A series of injuries to the offensive line has played a big part in Derek Carr getting sacked 47 times — third most in the league. Carr is the first player in four years to get sacked at least three times in seven consecutive games, but remains on pace for his first career 4,000-yard season.“I think he’s hanging in there,” coach Jon Gruden said. “No question, I am sure he is sore. He knows he is carrying us right now on offense. That’s what a franchise quarterback is paid to do.”Here are some other things to watch:GOODBYE OAKLANDThe game could be the final one ever at the Coliseum. The Raiders are set to move to Las Vegas in 2020 but have no lease for next year. Oakland city officials are suing the Raiders over the move and the team has threatened to play somewhere else because of it. Gruden said thinking about the end of the Coliseum almost makes him cry, but he can’t wait to see what the atmosphere will be like Monday night.“I get excited thinking about it
D.K. Metcalf Jersey ,” he said. “Just raging in the Black Hole. Rocking and raging down there after the Steelers game, after a lot of wins over the years. Seeing a lot of the old highlights of the great Raiders teams. I get excited and I get emotional about it. Hopefully, we get it all resolved where we can continue to play here.”ROOKIE SENSATIONBroncos running back Phillip Lindsay has been bottled up the last two weeks but he’s 9 rushing yards shy of 1,000 and just became the first offensive undrafted player selected to the Pro Bowl. Lindsay said he never pondered the possibility, suggesting that was a long-term goal of his a few years into his career. Lindsay started out as a special-teamer and didn’t even become Denver’s featured back until midseason, starting the last seven games.“I’m an undrafted free agent. To be able to have 100 yards in a game was great. To get a touchdown, to be able to play at (Mile High Stadium), that’s the stuff right there that I dreamt about,” Lindsay said.ROUGH ROOKIERaiders first-round left tackle Kolton Miller has had a rough rookie year. The 15th overall pick in the draft was hampered by a knee injury he played through earlier in the season and has appeared overmatched against a gantlet of top pass rushers he’s faced in his first NFL season. According to Pro Football Focus, Miller has allowed more sacks (14) and total pressures (59) than any player in the league.It doesn’t figure to get easier this week against Denver’s dynamic duo of Von Miller and Bradley Chubb.“He’s had some really good games. He’s had some games where he’s had his eyes opened,” Gruden said. “He’s not the first rookie left tackle that has gone through this. We’d like to see him finish with some authority.”CORNERED AT CORNERBACKThe Broncos signed free agent Craig Mager after putting star cornerback Chris Harris Jr. on IR with a broken right leg. Denver also expects to get Brendan Langley and Isaac Yiadom back from concussions and will have Bradley Roby back after he required five stitches last week for a laceration on his chin that he could stick his tongue through.And Jamar Taylor is back. His ejection last weekend left the Broncos with only one healthy cornerback in Tremaine Brock, and Cleveland scored its winning TD with safeties Justin Simmons and Dymonte Harris forced into route coverage in the fourth quarter. The Bears defense has been very good all season. And the Rams have their share of playmakers and stars on that side of the ball.But while the temptation is to make Chicago’s 15-6 win a testament to great defense, it was perhaps more of a situation of two quarterbacks playing poorly.Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky played less poorly. He threw for 110 yards and had three interceptions, and was clearly the better of the two.Rams counterpart Jared Goff was
Nick Bosa Jersey , to be blunt, a real mess. He finished 20-of-44 for 180 yards and four interceptions, for a 19.1 passer rating. The turnovers were bad, but the 4.1 yards per pass attempt might have been as egregious a number. Beyond the stats, however, Goff looked uncomfortable throughout the night, whether the culprit was his own teammates stepping on his feet, getting subtly whacked in the head as he threw, or the cold weather.Or, you know, the Bears defense.From the safety which opened the second half to the fourth quarter/fourth down sack by Akiem Hicks, the Bears were able to keep Goff in the pocket and under duress, and it was not a good thing for the Rams. When he’s not moving and in some kind of rhythm, he can look extremely average
http://www.cardinalscheapstore.com/byron-murphy-jersey-cheap , if that.There might not many defenses that can make the Rams look so out of sorts, but the Bears have one, and it was good enough to overcome a subpar night from their own quarterback.Here are five more things we learned during1. No one was happier with the Bears Sunday night than the Saints. And the Saints were pretty happy to begin with, after clinching the NFC South title earlier in the day.With the loss dropping the Rams to 11-2, the Saints (11-2 with the head-to-head tiebreaker) once again have the inside track toward home field advantage in the NFC playoffs.And that’s incredibly important, considering what a difference location makes for the Saints in the postseason.Since Sean Payton took over in 2006, the Saints are 5-0 in the postseason in the Superdome. They’re 1-5 in another team’s building (and 1-0 at neutral sites, as in their Super Bowl win).While the Rams will certainly be glad to get in out of the cold, they don’t necessarily want to go indoors in New Orleans in January, after losing 45-35 there in November.2. The Bears (9-4) deserved bonus points for their third-quarter touchdown, simply for their extensive use of big men.The touchdown pass to spare tackle Bradley Sowell was slick, after he reported eligible and slipped out into the flat on the goal-line play.It was the fake to defensive tackle Akiem Hicks that helped sell it and get Sowell so open, as the Rams were line up in a jumbo personnel package and usually when people do that they run power plays.But the Bears decided to have fun instead. Football can be fun, even without 100 points on the scoreboard. Especially with fat guy touchdowns
Dre'Mont Jones Jersey , and the ensuing fat guy dances. Football is better when fat guys do big fat things.3. On the other hand, sometimes bright young coaches can overcomplicate the game.The Bears defense is quite good, that’s a given. But Rams running back Todd Gurley had just eight touches in the first three quarters (six carries, two receptions).Gurley entered the game with 1,649 yards from scrimmage and 19 touchdowns, and he’s their best offensive skill player. So maybe, you know, giving it to him more would have helped.Sean McVay is very smart, and knows more about drawing up offense than most people employed in the league (and certainly more than me). But he didn’t get the ball to his best player. It doesn’t have to be that hard.4. The Rams dodged a bullet when center John Sullivan was evaluated for a concussion in the first half, but was cleared and returned.Because they’re keeping extras elsewhere, the Rams have just seven offensive linemen on the roster.Rookie Brian Allen, their fourth-round pick, is the interior line backup, and he came in for a bit before Sullivan made it back. Fellow rookie Joseph Noteboom
Hakeem Butler Jersey , their third-rounder, is the backup tackle, and he had to come in during the fourth quarter when left guard Rodger Saffold went down.It’s a good line, but that lack of depth could end up biting them at some point. And it’s the kind of risk you take when you swing for the fences by trading for expensive veterans and sign big-ticket free agents.5. The Bears lost a chance to catch the Rams off guard, when they caught an official off guard.After initially lining up for a punt, the Bears tried to run their offense back on the field, but tackle Bobby Massie knocked line judge Carl Johnson down to the ground. Officials stopped the game since he wasn’t in a position to call the play.That didn’t satisfy Bears coach Matt Nagy, since the Rams had a chance to adjust personnel. They ended up punting anyway.