The Denver Broncos are atop the American Football Conference West division standings and the National Football League standings with an 8-2 record.
Their most recent victory came on Thursday Night Football against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 10, and though it was absolutely a game to forget on both sides, Denver came out with a much needed and expected win.
Quarterback Bo Nix completed 16 of 28 passes for only 150 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in the 10-7 win over the Raiders. He also had five rushing yards on his only carry of the game.
One small bright spot for the offense was that veteran running back J.K. Dobbins recorded 77 rushing yards, though his average yards per carry was 4.3, below his season average of 5.3.
Dobbins suffered a foot injury on a hip-drop tackle that sidelined him for much of the second half before returning near the end of the fourth quarter to ice the game, putting his status to play against the Kansas City Chiefs next week in jeopardy.
The defense without star cornerback Pat Surtain II was the star of the show yet again, bailing out the mediocre Broncos offense for another week. After Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty scored a touchdown to open the scoring near the end of the first quarter, the defense stymied quarterback Geno Smith and Las Vegas’ offense.
Standout linebacker Alex Singleton told ESPN’s Jeff Legwold that the defense will do what it needs to do to come out on top victorious.
“Linebacker Alex Singleton said ‘whatever we need to do, we do’ after Thursday's win. But history would say the Broncos can't keep forcing the defense to defend a short field,” Legwold wrote Sunday. “Denver punted seven times Thursday, had four possessions that went for negative yardage and quarterback Bo Nix threw two interceptions. Including Thursday night, the Broncos have now won five times when they have lost the turnover battle. They have trailed in all but one game this season (Week 5 win in Philadelphia). The Broncos still sit atop the AFC West, but running back J.K. Dobbins put it best that ‘eventually it's going to bite us in the butt.’”
Even without Surtain, who is dealing with a pectoral injury, the defense has maintained its status as one of the best defensive units in the NFL and it will likely continue keeping the Broncos in games, if not win them.