Raiders Lombardi Faces a Formidable Broncos Defense

Las Vegas Raiders Offensive Coordinator Mick Lombardi knows how tough Denver's defense is.

Across the NFL, many week-one matchups happen to be divisional games. Those games, of course, mean a little bit more than non-divisional games.

While it is Coach Josh McDaniels' second year in the AFC West, it is Broncos Coach Sean Payton's and Defensive Coordinator Vance Joseph's first together with the Broncos. 

This forces the Las Vegas Raiders' coaching staff to look to many different sources to learn about both coach's tendencies.

Raiders Offensive Coordinator Mick Lombardi says he and the other coaching staff have left no stone unturned to learn as much as possible about Denver's new defensive coaching staff.

"I think you have to look at both, because when you look at them last year, they were very good defense, and they kept a lot of things schematically that they were doing," Lombardi said.

"Then, you look at Vance [Joseph]'s past and obviously he has a belief in what he was doing. So, you try to mesh it together -- it's opening day, you never know what you're going to get."

Lombardi acknowledged precisely how talented the Broncos' defense is. Denver is set up somewhat similarly to this Raiders defense, with solid, dependable players at every level. 

"They have impact players in all three levels," Lombardi said. "Whether it's [Randy] Gregory in the front, Josey Jewell at linebacker, and then you have [Justin] Simmons and [Patrick] Surtain at the corner position and safety position.

"So, they have really skilled players at all three levels. It's a challenge for us, both from a personnel standpoint and scheme standpoint, but we're looking forward to it." 

Lombardi shared that Week 1 poses different challenges than the preseason or even other weeks of the season.

"Week one is different; it's a whole new ballgame," Lombardi said. "You only have three preseason games to go off, and you hope for the best. And you go out there and try to execute your stuff that you feel good about versus what they present to you. 

"It's a follow your rules game. We tell players to follow your rules all the time and good things will come, so that's what we try to do."

It's the season's first game on the road against a divisional opponent. With the Kansas City Chiefs losing to the Detroit Lions, Las Vegas can send a message early in the season and get off on the right foot. 

The Silver and Black open the regular season at the Denver Broncos on Sunday, Sept. 10, at 4:25 p.m. EDT/1:25 p.m. PDT.

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