Raiders QB Carr vs. Broncos defense: Which would you rather have?

When the Denver Broncos head into the Black Hole on Sunday night against the Oakland Raiders, it’ll be a clash between one of the league’s best passing threats — Oakland quarterback Derek Carr — and pass defenses — the “No Fly Zone.”

Through the first half of the year, Carr ranks among the top 10 in the NFL in most passing categories. He’s 10th in completion percentage (66.3), fifth in yards (2,321), third in touchdowns (17), and seventh in interception percentage (0.9).

He’ll be facing a Broncos unit that ranks sixth overall and second in pass defense. Denver’s given up just six touchdowns through the air, good enough for fourth, and rank fifth in interceptions.

And both Carr and the Denver defense, on the whole, are relatively young — the former 25 years old and the latter featuring just one player older than 30 in DeMarcus Ware at 34.

So Sports Radio 104.3 The Fan’s Sandy Clough posed the question Wednesday: Who would you rather have, Carr or the Broncos defense?

“I’d say I’d take the defense in the short run. Long term, you’d rather have the quarterback at the age of 25, with, it would seem, eight to 10 good years ahead of him at the very least,” Clough said.

Joining the show, The Fan’s Broncos Insider Cecil Lammey chose Denver’s defense because it’s built for playoff football.

“We know playoff football is different. Certainly, championship-level football is different,” Lammey said. “You can go through the regular season and put up the points, put up those Star Wars numbers, you can have a great offense, you can fill the air with footballs, you can be a fantasy football darling, but it’s all about winning the Super Bowl. Bottom line.”

Lammey said the way the Raiders are constructed personnel wise, they’re a playoff contender or AFC West contender, but they’re not built to win a Super Bowl.

“Playoff football is all about defense and running the ball. And they don’t really play good defense and they don’t really run the ball,” Lammey said.

However, Chris Landry from LandryFootball.com said he believes the Raiders defense has not played up to their ability, and if they can be better on that side of the ball they’re in good shape with a strong, young quarterback.

“I’d rather be in the Raiders situation because I think the Raiders have the defensive personnel. I don’t think they’ve played up to their ability. I think they can be a better defense,” Landry said.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.