Denver Broncos Beat Las Vegas Raiders In Ugly 13-7 Win
The Broncos looked to keep their winning streak alive in a divisional matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders. Coming off a big win against the Houston Texans, Denver was trying to win their seventh game in a row. While they did win, it was in an extremely ugly fashion.
Broncos Offense Was Horrendous
Saying that the offense was brutal as a whole tonight is simply putting it lightly. Sean Payton’s play-calling was all over the place, and his decision-making continues to put the Broncos in a bad position. Bo Nix looked scared and lost in the pocket, throwing two costly interceptions. He didn’t look poised at any point in the game tonight, which has been the storyline throughout the first three quarters all season long.
In Nix’s defense, their starting field position tonight wasn’t great after another mind-blowing performance by the special teams unit. Jeremy Crawshaw had some of the worst punts in the history of the NFL, giving the Raiders a favorable starting field position. The special teams unit came up with a huge block late in the game, allowing Denver to score the game-winning field goal.
The Broncos are now 8-2 on the season, but still have a lot of things to clean up. The biggest thing, once again, is the penalties. This game was historic tonight, as the Broncos and Raiders both finished with 11 penalties and just 10 first downs. This marks the first time in the Super Bowl era that both teams had more flags than first downs in a game. Sean Payton has made this a clear emphasis every week, yet it keeps getting worse and worse. With the Kansas City Chiefs coming up, they’d better get it fixed fast.
Defense Comes Through Once Again
The only reason Denver won this game was due to another outstanding performance from their defense. They had six sacks tonight, putting pressure on Geno Smith throughout the entire game. The Raiders were giving Vance Joseph a lot of different looks early on, but Joseph was able to make the right adjustments to shut their offense down.
It’s amazing how good this defense has been in their first ten games of the season. Even without Patrick Surtain, they continue to dominate on the field, and the main reason why they now have the best record in the entire NFL. A lot of teams would be towards the bottom of the standings if their offense played this poorly on a weekly basis, but Denver keeps finding ways to prevail.
While the defense has been stellar, Sean Payton and Bo Nix need to quickly get it together. This type of offensive play isn’t sustainable for the rest of the season, especially since they’ll be going up against top teams in the AFC in the upcoming weeks. Payton saying in his press conference every week that he knows he has to be better is getting tiresome. Actions speak louder than words, and he needs to go out and prove it on the field.
