Around the AFC West: Raiders rise, Broncos sink in Week 4

Let’s take a look around the AFC West as the Chiefs battled to remain in first place, the Chargers and Raiders took steps forward and the Broncos stunk.

Welcome back to another week of Around the AFC West as we take a dive into the Week 4 games played by the Kansas City Chiefs, Oakland Raiders, Los Angeles Chargers, and Denver Broncos.

Before we begin, shout out to Nemoi  in the comments from last week’s column. I hear you and will definitely include Vegas odds each week! Thanks for reading!

Anyways, here we go. Let’s see how our rivals handled Week 4 of this 2019 season.

Oakland Raiders

The Oakland Raiders traveled to Indianapolis to take on the Jacoby Brissett-led Colts in a Sunday afternoon showdown. The weather was great and, surprisingly, so were the Raiders. Derek Carr led the offense to score on three of their first four drives and continued his impressive connection with wide receiver Tyrell Williams. Williams logged his fourth straight game with a touchdown catch—the only player in the NFL to do so this year.

In addition, the Raiders established the run, resulting in long sustained drives that ate up a lot of the clock. They even scored a defensive touchdown as well. This was a team win with all sides of the ball firing against a fairly good Colts team. This Raiders team is certainly a mystery. Are the for real? I doubt it, but this was an encouraging win for the Raiders after two tough losses in a row. The Raiders won 31-24 in a game that never really felt in doubt.

The Raiders did not come out of this game with good news on the player front, however. Guard Jordan Devey, who was in to replace Gabe Jackson, suffered another pectoral injury. This one will sideline the former Chief for the season. Disappointing for sure.

In addition, Vontaze Burfict was ejected after a nasty (and completely dirty) head shot to Jack Doyle. Following the ejection, the league ruled that Burfict should be suspended for the remainder of the 2019 season without pay. Burfict is appealing this decision and it is likely that appeal will be heard on Tuesday. Given his history with violent unnecessary roughness, it will be tough to argue that he shouldn’t face a lengthy suspension.

Next week, the Raiders “host” the Chicago Bears in London. Luckily, this game is in the evening in London so we don’t have to wake up at 8:00 a.m. to catch the game. The Bears are coming off a defensive test against the Minnesota Vikings. I watched that game and I have to tell you, that Bears defense is insane. Khalil Mack is back facing his former team this week and I can’t think that will mean Derek Carr will have a comfortable game. Mack had this to say:

The Bears aren’t without their struggles, however, as Mitchell Trubisky went down against the Vikings and is likely to be out for the London game with a shoulder injury. Backup Chase Daniel (who we are quite familiar with) looks to be a good replacement in the meantime. I think Mack will feast and the Raiders will drop another game.

Opening line odds for the Raiders in Week 5: +4.5.

Game time is 12:00 p.m. C.T.