Broncos vs. Raiders: 5 Halftime Adjustments Oakland Must Make

With time winding down in the first half, the Raiders are ahead of the Broncos, 17-7.

Last week was not pretty. 

But today, the Oakland Raiders have a shot at redemption as they take on the struggling Denver Broncos in a heated AFC West rivalry match. 

Can the Raiders rebound from their flurry of injury woes, or will the loss of Run DMC and Jason Campbell prove too much for them to overcome?

We should be in for an interesting finish and if the Raiders want to come away with the win, they must make the five following adjustments at halftime.

Cut the Penalties 

Oakland needs to cut out the stupid mistakes in the second half. Luckily, their penalties have not badly harmed them early, but don't expect their luck to last must longer.

If the Raiders keep shooting themselves in the foot, expect their lead to dwindle very quickly. 

Force 3rd-and-Long 

The Raiders need to keep forcing long 3rd downs in the second half.

Leaving Tebow and the Broncos in obvious passing downs is a secondary's dream. Look for the Broncos' over-hyped QB to be forced into huge throwing errors on long 3rd down attempts. 

How About a 3rd-Down Conversion?

The Raiders have been terrible on 3rd down during this game.

Mainly, this problem comes down to their inability to get positive yards on early downs. They have been forced into too many long 3rd down situations, which has severely limited their play-calling options. 

Punish Tebow 

The Raiders need to get after the Broncos' hot and cold QB. They should start to bring more pressure with their front seven and focus on putting Tebow on his back.

The Broncos' QB is prone to poor decision making; look for straight pressure up the middle to force Tebow into a huge mistake in the second half. 

Take a Chance Deep

Oakland should try to expose the injured Broncos' secondary in the second half. They have already suffered two injuries at safety, so look for there to be available holes to attack with inexperience in the secondary.