DENVER — The Broncos grew to become the primary group within the league to achieve eight wins this season with Thursday night time’s 10-7 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in Empower Subject at Mile Excessive. They usually did it — once more — with their protection at its quarterback-harassing, lockdown greatest.
However within the aftermath, Broncos working again J.Ok. Dobbins spoke for a lot of of his teammates on offense who acknowledged sufficient is sufficient, saying that it is time for the offense to cease making soccer life so laborious for the group.
“Yeah, cool, we’re 8-2 … [but] the protection is profitable us the video games and we’re not serving to them, we’re not doing them any justice,” Dobbins stated. “I really feel dangerous the way in which we play on offense and the way in which they play on protection, as a result of they’re doing so nice and we’re doing so dangerous. They’re our brothers, too, and it simply sucks as a result of they’re simply on the market so many performs, taking part in their butts off. We will not hold doing this to them.”
Stated Broncos quarterback Bo Nix: “Sooner or later we have got to start out transferring the ball and scoring some factors. Between penalties and sluggish soccer, we’re simply not taking part in superb. It begins with me. I’ve received to be higher. … We have got to search out some juice.”
However, the Broncos lead the AFC West, and their present seven-game profitable streak is the group’s longest because it opened the 2015 season 7-0 — Denver received Tremendous Bowl 50 to shut that yr out. The Broncos’ protection allowed one or no touchdowns for the fourth time this season and likewise had six sacks, pushing its league-leading whole to 46, probably the most after 10 video games since 1990.
The Raiders have been held and not using a first down on seven consecutive possessions and completed with 188 whole yards.
Nevertheless, the Broncos nonetheless discovered themselves in a down-to-the-wire slugfest as a result of their offense completed with 220 yards and punted seven instances as Nix threw two interceptions. The Broncos have trailed in all however one recreation this season – the Week 5 win over Philadelphia is the one exception – and have scored 18 or fewer factors in three of their previous 5 video games.
Thursday was additionally the fourth recreation this yr the Broncos didn’t rating within the first quarter. They’d 4 possessions within the recreation that went for damaging yardage, with three of these coming within the third quarter. Issues received so ugly within the second half that boos rained down from a sellout crowd because the offense left the sector earlier than a punt.
“I imply, they need to [boo], they need to,” Dobbins stated. “We’re not superb at instances. They need to be mad as a result of now we have a lot expertise. We have got to determine it out … and we are going to.”
The Broncos completed with 11 penalties for 78 yards in Thursday’s win, with eight of these approaching offense. It was the fourth recreation of the season the group had a minimum of 10 accepted penalties general.
Denver has the second-most penalized offense within the league, with 52 in 10 video games, together with penalties which have been declined. Solely the Jacksonville Jaguars have extra penalties on offense (53 in eight video games).
“[The Raiders] did some issues that have been difficult [on defense] … however too many penalties on offense that put us in a gap, and I’ve received to be higher additionally,” Payton stated.
Nix added: “We received to do higher. Sooner or later 10 factors is not going to be sufficient.”
Even the Broncos’ game-winning subject aim got here on account of a blocked punt by security JL Skinner that gave the offense the ball on the Raiders’ 12-yard line with 1 minute, 29 seconds left within the third quarter. The Broncos misplaced two yards on the following three performs mixed, and Wil Lutz kicked a 32-yard subject aim that turned out to be the distinction within the recreation.
However Denver’s defensive gamers stated their offensive counterparts nonetheless should not fear. Even because the Broncos stay on tempo to problem the league’s single-season sack document of 72 by the 1984 Chicago Bears, they are saying they’re prepared for anything thrown their means.
“No matter we have to do, we do,” Broncos linebacker Alex Singleton stated. “Simply persevering with to offer [the offense] the ball, give them each alternative.”
“We do not look what the offense does, what the particular groups does. Our job is to go on the market and get stops,” stated Broncos outdoors linebacker Nik Bonitto, who had 1.5 sacks within the win. “So, now we have that mentality and now we have the best guys who are available in with that mentality.”