The Broncos will play possibly their biggest division game of the season this Sunday night against the Oakland Raiders, as both teams are tied atop the AFC West division at 6-2.

After Denver’s two losses, other opponents are possibly looking at film from those games to figure out how to beat this dominating defense. The Falcons beat the defense by sticking to inside passing, which the Raiders could try to mirror in Oakland. The Raiders do have a similar offensive look as the Falcons, but some don’t believe the similarities.

“I wouldn’t compare the two offenses,” Shane Ray told Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro of Afternoon Drive on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7. “The Raiders have some similarities, but when teams come to play us, they change their game plan. They will look at the Atlanta game and they will look at other games, but I don’t think so.”

With any team facing this Broncos defense, there are some game plan changes to be made. If the right changes are made, it could make for a frustrating day for this defensive line, but Denver plans on sticking to the same game plan they have had all season: get to the quarterback.

“Most quarterbacks, when they’re playing a team where they aren’t really too worried about the rushers, they can get about 8 yards back for the pass,” Ray said. “Philip Rivers, he sat back 5 to 6 yards the whole game. That means take away the speed rush. You have guys in the offensive line, the way that they pass block you, they know that they have a quarterback sitting tight so they go heavy on the inside and make you run around. It’s tough to play against that because teams are going to throw the ball fast, too. If we can get them in third and long, we can win.”

Accomplishing their game plan may be tough going up against this Raiders offensive line, who have only given up nine sacks all season.

“They’ve got a lot of faith in their quarterback, in his arm, obviously, throwing the ball to [Amari] Coop[er] and [Michael] Crabtree,” Ray said. “With their offensive line, if you look on film, they’re across the board one of the biggest offensive lines in the league. They do a good job of stopping power rushes.”

David Carr is putting up career numbers this season. This Broncos defense isn’t letting that fact deter them from being aggressive and going after him. Some players don’t even feel he is an elite quarterback in the league, yet.

“I don’t really watch the Raiders at all. I just don’t watch them,” Ray said. “Carr, though, from when I played him last year, I thought he was a really good quarterback. The numbers that he’s putting up this year, it’s incredible. Nothing to take away from him, but I wouldn’t put him in my top five. You’ve got established quarterbacks that have been in the league for years and years. But he is working his way up.”

If there was any question of this AFC West rivalry dying down, Ray has the same feelings any Broncos fan has towards Oakland.

“It doesn’t matter what their record is, what our record is, we want to beat them,” Ray said. “I grew up as a ‘not’ fan of the Raiders, I never liked the Raiders. It is what it is. I don’t have anything personal against the players. I just don’t like the Raiders.”

To listen to the whole interview with Shane Ray, including his thoughts on the Raiders balanced offense, click the podcast below…

https://soundcloud.com/milehighsports/11-3-16-eric-les-and-shane-ray-the-broncos-always-get-up-to-play-the-raiders

Catch Afternoon Drive with Goodman and Shapiro Monday-Friday from 4p-6p on Mile High Sports AM 1340 | FM 104.7 or stream live any time for the best local coverage of Colorado sports from Denver’s biggest sports talk lineup.