Why Beating The Raiders At Home Is A Must For The Broncos

By Romi Bean

DENVER (CBS4)- Wins don't come easy in the NFL - especially against division rivals. So beating AFC West opponents at home is crucial, and beating the Oakland Raiders at home for the Denver Broncos this Sunday is huge.

"Vance always shows the stats of teams that make it to a Super Bowl and divisional games, and they all have at least four or five wins in the division every year. We want to start of this division run 1-0," Broncos lineman Shelby Harris said.

Safety Will Parks added, "It's the most important thing out there. In the first quarter, we have three home games and one away game. You have to win the first quarter."

In 2017, the Broncos beat the Raiders at Mile High but lost to Oakland on the road later in the year. Players will tell you home field advantage absolutely exists in sports. And sometimes it can make the difference in a game.

"The fans can kind of dictate what the other team does. Playing here at Mile High is tremendously loud. Sometimes it's even hard for us on defense to hear the calls. It's just an advantage for a team, all in all," Parks said.

The Broncos will take on the Oakland Raiders on Sunday at 2:25 p.m. You can watch the game on CBS4.

Romi Bean is a sports anchor and reporter at CBS4. Connect with Romi on Twitter @Romi_Bean.