The Broncos’ report card from their 32-23 loss at Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon.
Offense — D
A promising start and, then, ouch. Denver opened the second half with four straight punts and only a single first down before finally engineering a touchdown drive. By that time, the Broncos were trailing by two scores. This problem is now four games old: Offensive rhythm only shows up in fits and spurts rather than long, consistent stretches. Case-in-point: Much of the first half featured the Russell Wilson Denver figured it was getting when it made the massive trade this spring: 11 of 12, 149 yards and touchdown passes of 28 yards to Jerry Jeudy and five to Courtland Sutton. Turnovers, though, kill offenses. A fumble on your first snap of the game that gets returned for a touchdown? That’s territory at this point reserved for Melvin Gordon, who has put the ball on the ground four times in four games this year.
Defense — F
A rough outing after a mostly strong start to the season for Ejiro Evero’s group. For a while, it looked like the bend-but-don’t-break approach may be enough for Denver, but the dam finally burst in the fourth quarter. The Raiders rolled to more than 200 rushing yards on the afternoon, including a pair of bruising touchdown runs from Josh Jacobs, who was a force from the start. This after holding San Francisco’s vaunted rush offense to just 88 yards last week and winning that game with two late stands. It is difficult to be great every single week in the NFL, but the Broncos needed far better Sunday afternoon against a divisional opponent.
Special Teams — B
There were positives, certainly, highlighted by rookie Montrell Washington’s best game as a return man so far this season. He ran back three punts for 66 yards, each setting the Broncos up with excellent field position. A heads-up pounce by Alex Singleton to recover a surprise onside kick attempt that squirted loose, too, put Denver in prime position. On the negative side of the ledger, Denver’s kick return coverage leaked and its kicking game faltered in the second quarter when a high snap from Jacob Bobenmoyer led to a missed extra point.
Coaching — D
The teams looked evenly matched in the first half and lopsided in the second half. Somewhere along the way, the Raiders figured out Denver and Denver didn’t figure out the Raiders. Losing Javonte Williams didn’t help, of course, but the Broncos mostly looked lost after halftime. After a one-week penalty reprieve (relatively speaking), Denver was back to being too heavily flagged. They had seven penalties accepted for 50 yards and once again ended up too far behind the sticks too often. Melvin Gordon’s usage was interesting. He didn’t play for more than 25 minutes of game time, then fumbled on his first snap. He only returned later because of Williams’ injury.
