It was a statement game for the Raiders in Denver. With Gruden out and Rich Bisaccia in place as interim head coach, no one really knew how the Raiders would respond. They could collapse monumentally or they could come together and play inspired football. It was very much the latter.
The team had their first opening-drive score since week 11 of last season. It was a touchdown too. Then they kept it going to stop their trend of slow starts this season. They scored 17 in the first half and 17 in the second half, while the defense ensured the Broncos couldn’t close the gap.
They finished by scoring their most points of the season (34) and had the game iced midway through the fourth quarter.
Plenty of credit to go around for this dominant performance.
Ballers
DE Maxx Crosby
Five sacks. That’s how many the Raiders had. And Crosby was in on all of them. He shared a sack with Quinton Jefferson on the first drive and added a QB hit that forced a bad pass. His second sack was all his and led to a stalled drive. Then he and Jefferson teamed up again to end the first half with the Raiders taking a 17-7 lead into the locker room.
The first play of the second half was Crosby being held on a play he would have stuffed in the backfield otherwise. The next drive he teamed up with Cory Littleton for his third sack. That drive stalled for a field goal. The next drive ended with Crosby pressuring Bridgewater who tried to scramble and fumbled it away.
On the first drive of the fourth quarter, he batted a pass down at the line to set up third and 20. But the Broncos would end up converting on fourth down and finish with a touchdown to pull within two scores. The Raiders brought it back to a three-score game with eight minutes left. on the second play of the Broncos’ attempt to respond, Crosby stuffed a run for a loss. Two plays later, on third and 11, Bridgewater was picked off to put this one on ice.
Crosby finished with six tackles, 3.0 sacks, one tackle for loss, and one pass breakup. The five sacks he was in on were reminiscent of a former Raiders great on a trip to Denver.
QB Derek Carr, OC Greg Olson, Henry Ruggs III
Carr had to execute this offense without Gruden. And Olson had to step into play-calling duties for the first time in five years. And they killed it. The offense opened up and worked like a well-oiled machine from start to finish for the first time this season.
The first drive was capped by a 48-yard touchdown pass from Carr to Ruggs on a deep post. The next drive ended in a score as well, highlighted by a 25-yard hookup with Hunter Renfrow and ended with a 50-yard field goal. And the final drive of the first half saw Carr throw a majestic perfect strike to Kenyan Drake for a 31-yard touchdown.
Carr and Olson kept it going on the first possession of the third quarter. On the second play, Olson made the perfect call for a screen — something we didn’t much of under Gruden. The Broncos brought the house just as the Raiders wanted, Carr dropped it over them to Josh Jacobs and he had an entourage of blockers for a 29-yard screen play. Two plays later the Raiders scored.
At the end of the third quarter, the Raiders capitalized on a turnover. Carr dropped back on third and 12 under pressure and launched a rainbow. It wasn’t a great pass, but at worst it gets picked, which would have been the equivalent of a punt. But it wasn’t picked. Ruggs tracked it down, and even tripped over the defender, and still managed to catch it for a 40-yard completion. Two plays later, they punched it in for another touchdown to take a 31-10 lead.
31 points were already more than the Raiders had scored in regulation all season. And it was still the third quarter.
With the Broncos scoring again, the Raiders needed just one score to put the game away. On third and six, Carr threw a perfect pass to Bryan Edwards along the left sideline and he streaked up the sideline for 51 yards. That put the team inside the 20 and a few plays later a short field goal put the Raiders back at a three-score lead while setting a new high for points scored on the season. And that includes the OT games.
Carr finished with 341 yards passing on 18 completions, which is an incredible 18.9 yards per completion. Ruggs had three catches for 97 yards, two of which were huge completions leading to two touchdowns.
DT Solomon Thomas, DT Quinton Jefferson, DT Damion Square
Jefferson teamed up with Crosby on two sacks. He led the interior Dline with four tackles and had two QB hits. Square shared a sack with Crosby as well and had three QB hits and two tackles. Thomas had three QB hits and forced a fumble.
Jefferson’s second shared sack ended the first half. One of Thomas’s QB hits ended their first possession of the third quarter and nearly led to an interception. His forced fumble was recovered by the Raiders and they started their drive at the Denver 42 and took advantage with a touchdown.
RB Kenyan Drake
Quite an efficient day for Drake. He played just 12 snaps and touched the ball six times. Those touches were a six-yard run, a nine-yard run, an 8-yard catch, a 31-yard TD catch, an 18-yard TD run, and a one-yard run after the game was in hand. That’s 73 yards and two touchdowns. Have yourself a day, Kenyan.
LB Cory Littleton
Tied for the team lead with 11 tackles. He started a three-and-out by the Broncos in the second quarter with an open-field tackle to stop a catch for one yard. And he teamed up with Crosby for a sack that stalled a Broncos drive in the third quarter. On the Broncos’ final scoring drive, Littleton did his part. He made the stop on third and 20, but they converted on fourth down. On the next play, he batted down in the end zone on the next play.
CB Brandon Facyson, DB Roderic Teamer
Less than two weeks since joining the team, and on his fourth defensive snap, Facyson had an interception. It was the first of his career and just the second interception by the Raiders this season.
That turnover was made possible because Teamer made the stop short on the sticks on third down the play before. At the end of the second quarter, Teamer made the tackle on a catch well short of the first down on third and 16 to force a punt. The Raiders got the ball back with just over a minute and drove for a touchdown before the half.
In the third quarter, Teamer had tight coverage to force an incompletion in the back of the end zone and force the Broncos to settle for a field goal. And after the Raiders went up 34-17, Facyson knocked down a pass to set up third and 11. Bridgewater was picked by Tre’von Moehrig on his ensuing desperation throw.
Honorable Mention
S Tre’von Moehrig — Had the first interception of his career. Nearly had two, but the first was knocked out of his hands. Also didn’t give up any catches and had three tackles.
CB Casy Hayward — Continued to prove he’s the best cornerback on this team. He had a pass breakup on a deep pass and gave up just two catches for 24 yards. Also forced a couple of penalties on a push-off and a blindside block.
Busters
CB Amik Robertson
Robertson got the start again with Trayvon Mullen and Damon Arnette both injured. He lasted nine snaps before he was pulled in favor of Brandon Facyson.
Yes, nine snaps. That’s because in those nine snaps, he gave up a seven-yard catch, a 14-yard catch on third and 12, a 23-yard touchdown catch, and missed a tackle on a ten-yard run.
Those nine snaps weren’t the end of his day. He played four more snaps over the remainder of the game. And on one of those four snaps, he missed another tackle to give up a 30-yard run that set up the Broncos’ second score. Being almost wholly responsible for two scores — the only two scores the Broncos had over the first three quarters — is a brutal 13 snaps.
SS Johnathan Abram
The interception was cool and all. Though it was a desperation heave with the game already out of reach, so it was just window dressing. What was not nice was the five catches for 63 yards he gave up. Those included a 14-yard catch on the Broncos’ second scoring drive and a 26-yard catch on their third scoring drive.
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