LAS VEGAS– The Las Vegas Raiders’ difficult season has taken yet another hit.
On Sunday, the Raiders (2-9) fell to the Denver Broncos (7-5) 29-19 at Allegiant Stadium.
The loss pushes the Raiders’ current losing streak to seven games, making it the longest since 2014. It also marks the first time the Broncos’ first road victory over the Raiders since 2015, as well as the first time Denver has completed the season sweep for the first time since 2014.
To make matters worse, Minshew left the game in the fourth quarter due to an injured left shoulder.
“It doesn’t look good,” said head coach Antonio Pierce. “We’re running out of quarterbacks now.”
Shortly after Pierce’s comments, it was revealed per Ian Rapoport that Minshew has been ruled out for the remainder of the season due to a broken collarbone.
#Raiders QB Gardner Minshew broke his collarbone and is out for the season, sources tell me and @MikeGarafolo. A frustrating end for Minshew. pic.twitter.com/J6mYztPPqa
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 25, 2024
Here are three takeaways from the losing effort:
Second half shift
It was a tale of two halves for the Raiders in this game.
In the first half, the Raiders were performing at a high level. Defensive ends Maxx Crosby and Tyree Wilson were putting relentless pressure on the Broncos offense, Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew led a positive drive in the second quarter capped off by a touchdown pass to running back Ameer Abdullah, and the team was up 13-9 heading into halftime.
On the Raiders’ first drive of the second half, Minshew threw an errant pass that was intercepted by Denver safety Brandon Jones. Three plays later, and the Broncos put up their first touchdown of the game when quarterback Bo Nix found wide receiver Courtland Sutton. From there, momentum seemed to completely shift away from the Raiders, leading to the Broncos sacking Minshew with a little over three minutes remaining and ultimately ended the quarterback’s game and season. Two plays later, and backup quarterback Desmond Ridder was strip-sacked by Broncos linebacker Nik Bonitto to effectively push the game out of reach.
“The turnover right there, sudden change, we got to do a better job,” said Pierce. “On defense, we gave up a touchdown, and obviously, you saw the score there. And then, just third down defense in the second half wasn’t good enough.”
Red zone woes
Pierce made it a point throughout this week to emphasize that the Raiders were focused on improving in the red zone.
Unfortunately, red zone offense was where the Raiders fell flat. On five tries, the Raiders were only able to convert one red zone trip into a touchdown. Three attempts ended in Daniel Carlson field goals, while the final drive was ended when Ridder was sacked by Broncos linebacker Jonah Elliss on the last play of the game. Red zone play is becoming a concern under interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner so far as, between this game and last week’s loss to the Dolphins, the Raiders have only scored touchdowns on two of their eight trips to the red zone.
Special teams shine
Despite the result, special teams gave the Raiders plenty to be excited about.
In the first quarter, the Raiders got a huge kickoff return from rookie running back Dylan Laube, who went 59 yards before being stopped at the Broncos’ 40-yard line. The play set the Raiders offense up nicely, and they ultimately capitalized with their only touchdown of the game. In the second, the Raiders would pull off more special teams magic when punter AJ Cole fooled the Broncos and passed to linebacker Divine Deablo to keep an offensive drive alive. Cole had a tremendous game punting as well, as two of his four punts were marked inside the 20-yard line, including a coffin corner punt in the third quarter to force the Broncos to start a drive from their own one-yard line.
It was a very impressive day from the special teams unit, made even more so by the fact that assistant special teams coach Derius Swinton II was forced to take over for special teams coordinator Tom McMahon for this game. The reason for McMahon’s absence has yet to be determined.
The Raiders will have to bounce back quickly, as they face the Kansas City Chiefs on a short week in Kansas City on Nov. 30.
