Thursday Night Football - Denver Broncos (9-3) @ Oakland Raiders (3-9)

This weeks Thursday Night Football sees two AFC West rivals face off in what is more or less a dead rubber.  Denver have won the division and will be in the playoffs.  Oakland are playing for next years draft pick.  Denver are tied with New England and Baltimore at 9-3 so the game will mean more to them as every victory increases their chance of a bye in the first round of the playoffs.

The Denver Broncos have had a great year and the move to bring Peyton Manning to Denver is now looking like a masterstroke.  Manning didn't make a great start to his Denver career but seven wins in a row has more than made up for the 2-3 start.  Manning's numbers are impressive and he is on pace for a career best in passing yards.  His current average would leave him just shy of the 4700 yards he had in 2010.  He should also post the second highest total touchdown passes of his career.  He has 29 touchdowns with four games left and his second best season was 33 touchdown passes which he has done on three occasions.  His pass completion percentage is currently 68% and his career best was 68.8% in 2009.  For a quarterback to be getting close to career numbers at 36 years old is exceptional but to be doing it with a brand new team and after missing a season to what was a potentially career ending injury, is something only one of the truly great quarterbacks of all time could do. 

Every great quarterback needs receivers who can catch the ball and Manning has that in abundance with the Broncos.  Demaryius Thomas in particular has had a great season and he has already smashed his career best in every statistic.  Eric Decker, Jacob Tamme and Brandon Stokley are also playing their part and Peyton Manning is making their jobs as easy as he possibly can. 

The one weakness in Denver is the running game and they are averaging just over 100 yards per game.  Their leading rusher, Willis McGahee is out injured and although he may be back later in the year, it would only be deep into the playoffs.  The Broncos will have to find some sort of a running game to take the pressure off Peyton Manning or they will be out of the playoffs before he is back.  Knowshon Moreno had a decent game against the Chiefs but in the playoffs, the Broncos won't be able to beat the best teams in the AFC unless they can get some help for Peyton Manning. 

Defensively, the Broncos are up there with the best teams in the NFL.  They are giving up just over 300 yards per game, they have sacked the opposing quarterback 38 times, which is 2nd in the NFL and they have 4 defensive touchdowns, which is 3rd in the NFL.  Overall, the Broncos are a very serious contender.  They were a playoff team last year with Tim Tebow at quarterback and even won their first game in the wildcard round over the Pittsburgh Steelers.  They were comfortably beaten by the Patriots in the divisional round but they have significantly improved at quarterback and only time will tell if that is enough to take them to the next level.

Oakland have had a bad year.  Things looked to be improving in Oakland recently with two consecutive 8-8 seasons but they have gone backwards and at 3-9 they are in position for a top 5 pick in the 2013 draft.  They had a bad start and dropped to 1-4 but won two in a row to get back to 3-4 but they have lost five in a row since. 

The Raiders have been very poor on defense and are giving up over 380 yards per game.  They have had a lot of key players out through injury but the performances still haven't been good enough.  The Raiders will pick early in the draft and most of the top guys are defensive players so they should receive a boost as long as they get their pick right. 

The one positive for the Raiders this year has been the passing game.  They are averaging just under 280 yards per game and rank 8th in the league.  Carson Palmer has had a good year and should reach a career best in passing yards within the next two or three games.  Tight end, Brandon Myers has been his go to guy and he has been supported by Denarius Moore, Darrius Heyward-Bey and Marcel Reece.  The passing game is good fine and if the Raiders can hold onto everyone, the passing unit should be every bit as good next year.

The match up in this game favours the Broncos.  As I've said, the Raiders only strength is passing but the Broncos have a good pass defense.  The Broncos should be able to get their passing game going against a Raiders pass defense that ranks 25th in the NFL and should have too many weapons for a struggling Oakland Raiders.   

Prediction - I can only see Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos picking up the win here.  

Thursday Night Football - New Orleans Saints (5-6) @ Atlanta Falcons (10-1)

This weeks Thursday Night Football sees a huge NFC South clash between the New Orleans Saints and the Atlanta Falcons.  The game could have huge playoff implications and on paper, it looks like the best Thursday night game this year.

The Saints are 5-6 and need the win to keep themselves in with a chance of a playoff spot.  The Falcons are 10-1 and need the win to maintain their number one seed in the NFC.  Add the fact that the Falcons only defeat of the season came in New Orleans and it looks like we could have a cracker on our hands.

The Saints had a terrible start to the season but they have fought back from 0-4 and won five of their last seven games.  At 5-6 the Saints are still well and truly alive coming into week 13 and although the team may have had higher expectations at the start of the year, after week 4 they would have been delighted with that.

The Saints strength is their passing game and in Drew Brees they have a truly elite quarterback.  He has the Superbowl ring and there's not many better quarterbacks in the NFL.  Brees has a great record in Atlanta since moving to the Saints, winning on five of his six visits.  Brees will undoubtedly lead the passing game and keep the game competitive but he will need help from his team mates.  The running game hasn't been good this year and almost everything positive on offense has been passing.  The defense has been very poor and they have given up more yards than any other team in the league.  The defense needs to step it up tonight as Atlanta have one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL.

The Falcons are also a pass heavy offense and are also led by a top class quarterback.  Matt Ryan has grown in stature in recent seasons and he looks like he has taken the required steps to join Brees, Peyton Manning and Tom Brady as one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.  Ryan is helped by the quality of receivers he has to work with.  Roddy White, Julio Jones and tight end, Tony Gonzalez are all great targets and Ryan has been making the most of this.  The running game has been hit and miss this season and starter, Michael Turner is picking up just 3.5 yards per carry.  It might be time for the Falcons to increase the workload of his backup, Jacquizz Rodgers.  Rodgers is averaging 3.9 yards per carry and has been making an impact in recent weeks.

This game looks like it has all the makings of a shootout and could well be decided on who has the last possession.  Both offenses are better than their opponents defense and it should make for a high scoring game.  The Saints need the win more as their playoff hopes are in the balance.  The Falcons could afford to lose and still be at least one game clear as the top seeds in the NFC but they will be desperate to pick up a win over this Saints team.  The Falcons have only one of their last eight games against the Saints and will be hurting that it was the Saints who took their unbeaten start to the season.  The Falcons will believe that they are a better team than the Saints and now is the time for them to prove it on the field.  A win over the Saints would be a huge mental hurdle for the Falcons to get over and it would give them a belief that they've near really had in the playoffs in the Matt Ryan era.

Prediction - Tonight's the night that the Falcons show the league that they are the best team in the NFC South by beating the Saints for the first time since September 2010.