The Las Vegas Raiders had their latest losing streak extended to seven games today when they lost to the Denver Broncos, 24-17, in a game in which they were dominated nearly wire-to-wire.
This was relatively generic bad football compared to some other recent Raiders losses, but the offensive ineptness was particularly noteworthy. The Raiders had one significant touchdown drive while the game was still competitive, but the early 7-7 tie that produced after a 15-yard strike from quarterback Geno Smith to tight end Brock Bowers didn’t hold up for long.
The Raiders offense sputtered after that with Smith leaving the game due to a shoulder injury, and their special teams sprang a leak to allow Denver’s second touchdown. Marvin Mims Jr. gave the Broncos the lead again by taking a Raiders punt to the house from 48 yards out, making it 14-7 as the offense continued to struggle.
The Broncos pulled away in the third quarter with another long touchdown drive that was capped off by a three-yard RJ Harvey run. It was a 91-yard drive that took the air out of the Raiders hopes, as Denver once again played ball control for nearly the entire quarter to make it 21-7 going into the fourth.
The stats on both sides of the ball weren’t pretty. The Raiders offense gained less than 200 yards before backup quarterback Kenny Pickett took over for Smith, and the defense allowed Denver quarterback Bo Nix to complete 31-of-38 passes for 212 yards. The Broncos also rushed for two touchdowns while averaging 4.9 yards on the ground for the game.
The fourth quarter scoring began when Wil Lutz made it 24-7, and that was when Pickett led the Raiders’ “comeback” during garbage time. Las Vegas ended up scoring ten points in the quarter to make the final margin 24-17, which probably ticked off a lot of bettors given that Denver entered this game as a 7.5-8 point favorite with an over/under number of 40.
While running back Ashton Jeanty struggled once again with just 30 yards on ten carries, the Raiders did get to showcase one of their rookies, receiver Jack Bech. Bech came through with 50 yards on six catches, so there might be something to build on with his play in this game.
As for the season, it’s becoming more of a lost cause with each week. The Raiders next two games are on the road against the Philadelphia Eagles and Houston Texans, and the lone winnable game remaining on the schedule is a home tilt against the New York Giants the week after that.