Heading into the Oakland Raiders Week 5 matchup with the Denver Broncos, let's take a look at what the opposition has been saying about the Silver and Black this week.
Head Coach Gary Kubiak:
"First off, they have a great young quarterback. That's the No. 1 thing that jumps at you. He's very talented, makes a lot of plays, not only with his arm but with his feet. I think he really does a great job of spreading the football around and being a headache defensively as far as what they do. Talented group and another challenge for our football team."
"He's [Aldon Smith] obviously a great player. They have two great edge football players [Smith and Khalil Mack] and they create a bunch of problems. A talented group and it will be very difficult for us offensively. Add having to do it with the noise. It's y'all's place, makes it even tougher, so we have a lot of respect for him."
"I think every year's a new year and they've been playing well and we've got a tough challenge going into their place, so I expect a great football game. We know it's a tough place to play."
Quarterback Peyton Manning:
"I've known Coach Del Rio going back to when he was in New Orleans and of course we played against each other a lot in the old AFC South when I was in Indy and he was in Jacksonville. He's an excellent coach. He's been around a long time as a player and a coach. It's a physical group. They're playing physical, playing fast and I think that's what he instills in them."
"Obviously, both those guys [Khalil Mack and Aldon Smith] are excellent players. Everybody has to account for them. Obviously receiver have to get open on time. Obviously offensive line has to be on top of all communications. You have to just account for those guys because both of them can create turnovers and cause long downs and distances. "
"Charles [Woodson] is a great athlete, smart, obviously keeps himself in great shape. Real credit to him. Knowing the kind of athlete he was coming out of college really doesn't, but it's a real credit to him."
Linebacker Von Miller
"I think the progress has come from Derek [Carr]; he's a better quarterback than he was last year. You can see he's poised. He makes a lot of quick decisions. He's not holding the ball, four, five seconds. He's starting to become the quarterback that I think that they drafted."
"I think he's [Khalil Mack] an outstanding player though, and I think if you look at him play, he is more physical than I am, so it wasn't like a false statement or anything. You look at him and he's a beast out there. I don't think there's another player in the league that's playing like Khalil."
Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips:
"[Derek Carr] having two really good receivers like that—one veteran receiver that you can count on catching the ball all the time and then the rookie receiver that comes in and does what most rookie receivers don't do by playing really well. Having those two guys just utilizes his talent. [Carr] obviously was talented coming in and played well last year, but now he has two big time receivers."* *
Cornerback Aqib Talib:
"[Derek Carr's] improved a lot. "He just looks more comfortable. You can see his maturity, he gets the ball out of his hands and he's running their show. The offense looks pretty decent, and Carr is the one running it. You can definitely see the maturity from last year."
