Stick here for live updates and analysis as Denver takes on the Raiders at Empower Field at Mile High.
Live updates
FINAL | Broncos 10, Raiders 7
Broncos grind out ugly, 10-7 win vs. Raiders for seventh straight victory
The best thing that can be said about that game is that it's over.
The Broncos walk away with a seventh straight win. They're 8-2 and atop the AFC West.
But nobody is going to feel great about this one. Well, maybe the defense, which completely shut down tight end Brock Bowers and tallied six sacks in yet another dominant performance.
The offense, on the other hand, now has 10 days to think about what it's just done. If they want to beat the Chiefs at the end of those 10 days, it's going to have to look a whole lot better than that. — Schubert
More Broncos coverage:
- Analysis: Broncos grind out ugly, 10-7 win vs. Raiders for seventh straight victory.
- Renck: Broncos keep their goals in front of them, but no way Chiefs are scared of this team.
- Broncos-Raiders report card: Yet again, Vance Joseph and Denver’s pass-rush save the day in ugly win.
- Broncos four downs: Sean Payton has built ugliest 8-2 team in Broncos history.
- Broncos’ solution for Raiders TE Brock Bowers? Vance Joseph sends the cavalry.
- PHOTOS: Denver Broncos beat Las Vegas Raiders 10-7 during NFL Week 10.
- WATCH: Broncos’ Dondrea Tillman intercepts Raiders’ Geno Smith.
- WATCH: Broncos’ JL Skinner blocks Raiders’ punt.
Fourth-quarter updates
Two-minute warning (9:16 p.m.): J.K. Dobbins with a strong 7-yard run to make it second-and-3 with 2:00 to go. — Nguyen
First down (9:14 p.m.): Bo Nix QB sneak gives the Broncos a first down. There's 2:18 to go, and the Raiders are out of timeouts. This one is pretty much ovah. — Schubert
Injury update (9:13 p.m.): Geno Smith is now questionable to return for the Raiders. — Nguyen
Huge first down (9:11 p.m.): Bo Nix finds Troy Franklin on the 18-yard catch-and-run. There's 3:00 to go in regulation. — Nguyen
Bo Nix rolls out and hits Troy Franklin on third-and-1 for 18 yards, and the Broncos are in Raiders territory. A field goal might put this thing away.
Just under three minutes. So another first down might end it, too. -- Schubert
No good, Raiders (9:06 p.m.): Colorado native Daniel Carlson's attempt to tie the game goes just wide right. This game. — Nguyen
Nik Bonitto applies pressure again on third down, Geno throws the ball away, and the Raiders are forced to settle for a field goal ... and Carlson is wide right. Sean Payton's Broncos dodging bullets left and right tonight. -- Schubert
Interception (9:02 p.m.): Bo Nix throws a high pass that was intercepted by Champ Kelly. Raiders get it at Denver's 45. — Nguyen
But ... that's Bo Nix interception No. 2 of the night. Troy Franklin can't handle a ball on third down and now the Raiders are in business on the Broncos' side of the field. And Geno is back out on the field. -- Schubert
Injury update (9:01 p.m.): Geno Smith back in the medical tent. — Schubert
Sacked (8:56 p.m.): Sack No. 6 for the Broncos. This time, a 3-yard loss on the split sack by John-Franklin Myers and Jonathon Cooper. — Nguyen
Broncos sack counter: 6. — Schubert
Five of the Broncos' six sacks tonight have come on third or fourth down.
Vance Joseph's group is cooking. — Gabriel
Raiders are driving (8:54 p.m.): Two first downs and now the ball is at the Broncos' 43-yard line. We've reached the danger zone, folks. -- Schubert
Injury update (8:53 p.m.): Geno Smith returns to the game and makes a 25-yard pass to Tre Tucker. — Nguyen
Wrong way (8:45 p.m.): Four of the Broncos' 10 drives this game have gained negative net yardage. — Evans
Injury (8:42 p.m.): Welp, it's Kenny Pickett time for Vegas. Nik Bonitto tripped up Geno Smith, who exited the game with what appears to be a knee injury. — Nguyen
Third-quarter thoughts — Broncos 10, Raiders 7
Parker Gabriel, beat writer: The Broncos have been set up at the LV 33 and 12 their past two drives after an INT and a blocked punt.
Their offensive output: 7 plays, -8 yards and 3 points.
Sean Keeler, sports columnist: The last 15 minutes should be cleaned and burned.
Matt Schubert, sports editor: Simulate to end, please.
Third-quarter updates
Field goal, Broncos (8:34 p.m.): Get ball at 12-yard line and lose two yards. Got ball on the 22-ayrd line and lost six. Broncos offense, even by their hibernation standards, has been awful. Denver leads 10-7 with 5 seconds left in third. On the positive side, Broncos have outscored opponents by 60 points in the fourth. So there's that. -- Renck
The Broncos go backward ... again. The good news is they were already in chip-shot field goal range. The Broncos may win this game, but nobody is going to feel good about it. -- Schubert
Throwing woes (8:34 p.m.): Bo Nix has SUCH a short memory, he's forgotten how to throw the football entirely. -- Keeler
Special teams (8:30 p.m.): That intentional grounding won't count as a sack, but it should. The Broncos pass rush is on one tonight.
YOU DARED DOUBT BRONCOS SPECIAL TEAMS!?!?!? -- Schubert
Choosing to punt (8:26 p.m.): Correct me if I'm wrong, but did Sean Payton just elect to not try a shorter field goal than the one his kicker just missed? -- Schubert
Well mainly because Lutz missed the last one 15 yards short. — Renck
Broncos took over at Las Vegas' 33 after the Tillman INT return, went backward 6 yards and then punted it into the end zone. — Gabriel
Penalties (8:25 p.m.): Troy Franklin and Pat Bryant continue to get penalties. The team has 10 penalties. Just ugly, ugly offensive football. -- Renck
Injury (8:24 p.m.): Now Dobbins is hobbling off the field. Make it stop. Please. -- Keeler
Trainers are taping up J.K. Dobbins' left ankle on the bench. — Evans
Picked (8:21 p.m.): DONDREA TILLMAN FOR CB1!
On a team with one of the best secondaries in the world, Dondrea Tillman LEADS the Broncos in interceptions (2). What a time to be alive. — Keeler
Would Dondrea Tillman be Denver's best TE? — Gabriel
No good (8:17 p.m.): Wil Lutz misses the 59-yard field-goal attempt. — Nguyen
This game is a hernia. -- Keeler
Badly designed play (8:17 p.m.): When you replay that Sutton WR pass play, you must do so with "Yakety Sax" playing in your head. -- Keeler
Sickness (8:14 p.m.): If you wondered what the Broncos looked like without their best two players — Meinerz is on the sidelines with an "illness" — this is your moment. Better now than in 10 days. -- Keeler
First down (8:12 p.m.): Bo Nix finds Adam Prentice for the easy 10-yard first down. — Nguyen
Play clock (8:12 p.m.): The ref admitting "confusion" over the PA is the most exciting thing to happen this half. -- Keeler
Sloppy (8:05 p.m.): Sometimes these Thursday Night Football games get sloppy. This is one of them. -- Schubert
Injury updates (8:05 p.m.): OLB Jonah Elliss QUESTIONABLE to return with a hamstring injury.
ILB Karene Reid has been downgraded to OUT with a hamstring. — Gabriel
Three-and-out (8:01 p.m.): Three plays for minus-2 yards on that drive. The boos rain down. Denver's punting. — Nguyen
Boos raining down on the Broncos after the offense's fifth three-and-out of the game. Let the Raiders hang around long enough, and we could have problems. — Schubert
Penalties galore (7:59 p.m.): Marcedes Lewis with his second penalty of the game. — Nguyen
As are penalties. Broncos are at nine for the game seconds into the third quarter. -- Schubert
Special teams (7:58 p.m.): Feels like special teams remains a problem. -- Schubert
Halftime thoughts — Broncos 7, Raiders 7
Parker Gabriel, beat writer: Bo Nix has targeted Troy Franklin on balls of 20+ air yards 15 times now this season, per Next Gen Stats.
2/15 for 67 yards, a TD and an INT.
Sean Keeler, sports columnist: Bo Nix has been praised for his capacity to flush it and forget it, like a relief pitcher. I would like to flush the last two quarters of Nix passes from my brain for all eternity. Jeremy Crawshaw's punting hurts my eyes. Could they just snap it to Zach Allen in the Wildcat?
Troy Renck, sports columnist: It is Let's Glow Back night. Can we just play the second half in the dark and use our imagination as to what is happening?
Matt Schubert, sports editor: The Broncos have five sacks at halftime. The franchise record for a game is 10, just in case you were curious. This might be another defense-to-the-rescue situation with Bo Nix submitting yet another uneven performance.
Total runs for the Broncos through two quarters: 6. Yes, 6.
Second-quarter updates
Injury update (7:44 p.m.): Nik Bonitto looks like he's in some discomfort as the Broncos head to halftime. Was working on his shoulder earlier and still doesn't look quite right. — Gabriel
Intercepted (7:39 p.m.): Bo Nix is so much more comfortable in uptempo. It is like the quickened pace gets his eyes, feet and arm in sync. But the offense is not in sync. They just cannot find a rhythm. Nix appeared to have it. Then penalties disrupted. Then a bad deep ball throw to Troy Franklin followed that turned into a pick. -- Renck
Third-and-long (7:37 p.m.): Bo Nix finds Courtland Sutton on third-and-14 to extend the drive. Then Denver has a false start penalty. — Nguyen
Sacked (7:30 p.m.): You know who could end the government shutdown? Zach Allen could end the government shutdown. All by himself. -- Keeler
Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto split that sack for a 6-yard loss. That's five on the day for Denver. — Nguyen
Zach Allen has put on a clinic the past two weeks. Pressure up the middle. QB hits. And sack after sack after sack... Operates as J.J. Watt Lite. -- Renck
Zach Allen's got five sacks and 15 QB hits in the past 5.5 games for the Broncos. — Gabriel
Sacked (7:29 p.m.): Malcolm Roach with the sack. That's Denver's fourth of the game. — Nguyen
Touchdown, Broncos (7:26 p.m.): Bo Nix finds Troy Franklin in the end zone for a 7-yard touchdown. Five plays for 53 yards on the drive. Broncos 7, Raiders 7 with 2:41 to go in the first half. — Nguyen
That's Troy Franklin's fifth touchdown in 10 games. Has three catches in a first half where no other Bronco is in double-digit receptions. He's rounded into a legit WR2 in Denver. — Evans
Bo Nix remains easier to appreciate than explain. Has zero accuracy well into second quarter. Then makes nice scramble pass to Pat Bryant and fires a dart to Troy Franklin for a 7-yard score. Bryant and Franklin reward faith in them after no move at the trade deadline. -- Renck
The fourth quarter has come early in apountry. 5 plays, 53 yards and 3:17 later, the Broncos are finally on the board. Be sure to send Uncle Pete a thank-you card for giving up potential kicking points not once, but TWICE. -- Keeler
Huge gain (7:25 p.m.): Bo Nix finds Pat Bryant for a monster 43-yard gain. — Nguyen
First down (7:23 p.m.): Broncos get initial first down with 5:42 remaining in half. On brand for slow-starting offense. Then they follow it up with a holding penalty. Just retina-burning performance. -- Renck
Injury (7:22 p.m.): Bonitto was pointing at left shoulder during last drive, like something was bothering him. But he's on bench with teammates. So appears to be OK. — Renck
Sacked (7:18 p.m.): Easily Denver's best offseason pickup, Talanoa Hufunga sacks Geno Smith for a 9-yard loss on fourth-and-5. — Nguyen
Casa Bonitto (7:17 p.m.): Nik Bonitto with the tackles on Brock Bowers for a 5-yard loss. — Nguyen
Punting woes (7:15 p.m.): Jeremy Crawshawshank is going to need a redemption at some point in this game. — Gabriel
Jeremy Crawshaw appears to be working through a massive case of the rookie yips. Just trudged over to talk to Darren Rizzi on the sideline. — Evans
Special teams (7:09 p.m.): The Raiders booted a punt that went out at the half-yard line. They're completely the opposite Denver's special teams right now. — Nguyen
On a night when their punter is booting the ball with his ankle, the Broncos are still seeking their initial first down with 8:58 remaining in the half. -- Renck
Penalties (7:08 p.m.): The Raiders' touchdown is wiped out after Dont'e Thornton Jr. gets called for the penalty. Vegas is punting. — Nguyen
Huge gain (7:04 p.m.): Geno Smith finds a wide-open Brock Bowers for a 31-yard gain. — Nguyen
And here come the pretzels (7:02 p.m.): Boos rain down as Jeremy Crawshaw shanks that punt off the side of his foot. It goes 36 yards to Vegas' 29-yard line. — Nguyen
Heard crystal clear in the press box, a fan below yelling, "WHAT'S GOING ON?"
Fair. Tough but fair. — Gabriel
Well special teams continues to drap themselves in glory. Crawshaw punts ball of his shin for 36 yards. Two bad punts and a failure to rush on a punt that would have resulted in a block. Or just another day that ends in Y for Broncos special teams. -- Renck
Three-and-out? (7 p.m.): The Broncos tried drawing the Raiders offsides. It didn't work. Denver's punting. — Nguyen
Special teams (6:58 p.m.): Even when the other special teams unit totally screws up — as the Raiders just did dropping a punt snap — Darren Rizzi's Broncos unit can't take advantage. -- Schubert
Injury (6:56 p.m.): Not good for Vegas. Starting guard Jackson Powers-Johnson is being carted off the field. — Nguyen
Casa Bonitto (6:53 p.m.): Nik Bonitto with the sack for a 6-yard loss. It's his first sack in four games. But more importantly, it's fourth down. — Nguyen
A holding call gives the Broncos defense the break it needed. And Nik Bonitto joins the sack party. Time for this Denver offense to wake up. -- Schubert
First-quarter thoughts — Raiders 7, Broncos 0
Parker Gabriel, beat reporter: Out on a limb here, but 6 yards and no first downs is not going to cut it for the Broncos' offense going forward. And there's no Pat Surtain II to turn around a lackluster performance at home against the Raiders like he did last year with the 100-yard pick six.
Luca Evans, beat writer: The Broncos' slow offensive start is not new whatsoever. The Broncos' defense getting gashed on the ground by a rookie RB? That's new. Vance Joseph's defense is trying to correct against the Raiders' 12-personnel and TE Brock Bowers, and Ashton Jeanty is taking advantage. All signs pointing bad here for Denver after a quarter.
Sean Keeler, sports columnist: Bo Nix has any completions (1) as sacks (1). The special teams is giving Pete Carroll early Christmas gifts. Ashton Jeanty is starting to run wild. The Broncos look slow, sloppy, shopworn and stale. In other words, Payton as the Raiders right where he wants 'em.
Troy Renck, sports columnist: The Broncos have scored first in one game this season. So no surprise they are training. Working sources to see if Pat Shurmur got demoted from CU because he is secretly calling Broncos first 15 plays every week.
Matt Schubert, sports editor: The Raiders are moving the ball and Brock Bowers hasn't even gotten started yet. Not ideal. If Ashton Jeanty is going to be this much of a problem, this Thursday nighter could get real scary, real quick.
First-quarter updates
Rookie (6:46 p.m.): Ashton Jeanty's got juice. — Gabriel
Three-and-out (6:42 p.m.): Three plays, minus-3 yards on that drive. That's no bueno. At least the punt was better. — Nguyen
You know things are going bad when Bo Nix takes a sack. Really uneven performance to start this one for the Broncos. Three-and-out for a second straight drive. Starting slow on Thursday night is not a good idea. — Schubert
Slow starts (6:41 p.m.): Denver is 7-2, tied for the best record in the AFC, and has now scored first exactly once in 10 games this year. That was a 55-yard Wil Lutz field goal after a 12-play drive covered 32 yards against Philly in Week 5. This team starts molasses slow. — Gabriel
Special teams (6:41 p.m.): The Broncos' special teams keep lighting the room on fire. Sean Payton is the dog with the coffee cup. This is not fine, dude. At all. -- Keeler
Touchdown, Raiders (6:36 p.m.): Pete Carroll was trying to call timeout. Ref didn't see him. Ashton Jeanty bulls in from 4-yards out. So Broncos have official trailed in every game this season. It is 7-0 Raiders with 3:02 remaining in first. -- Renck
Rookie Ashton Jeanty powers in on a 4-yard touchdown run to cap the eight-play, 41-yard drive. The Classical Academy alum Daniel Carlson with the extra point. Raiders 7, Broncos 0 with 3:02 to go in the first quarter. — Nguyen
Ah, the ol' slow-starting Broncos emerge once again on Thursday night. — Schubert
Punt (6:31 p.m.): Darren Rizzi's special teams fail him again. This time one of his most trusted performers, rookie punter Jeremy Crawshaw. With the wind swirling, he uncorked a 30-yard punt. — Renck
Three-and-out (6:30 p.m.): Denver opens with three straight runs by J.K. Dobbins. He got 9 yards. Broncos are punting. — Nguyen
Breathing room (6:28 p.m.): J.K. Dobbins goes up the gut for a 6-yard gain to started the drive. — Nguyen
Sacked (6:24 p.m.): Zach Allen and Eyioma Uwazurike split the sack on Geno Smith. Raiders punt to Denver's 2-yard line. — Nguyen
Nickel package (6:24 p.m.): Broncos consistently in nickel so far against LV's 12 personnel.
Want the extra DB to deal with Bowers and they're betting they can stop the run with a lighter box. — Gabriel
Memory (6:22 p.m.): Last time I saw Tyler Lockett, he was proposing to his girlfriend in Seattle. I was doing TV live shot for Denver7, and he jumped out of SUV to cool light display and got down on one knee. Was pretty cool to accidentally see. -- Renck
Third-down conversion (6:20 p.m.): First third down of the night and the Broncos had rookie Jahdae Barron in coverage on Brock Bowers. Ball went the other way. — Gabriel
Ashton Jeanty (6:18 p.m.): The Raiders rookie got a gain of nothing on his first carry of the day. — Nguyen
Talanoa Hufanga knew the first play. Walked up the line of scrimmage and netted a tackle for loss. -- Renck
Coin toss (6:15 p.m.): Empower Field is still filling in but feels like a good environment on hand tonight. No surprise there.
Broncos win the toss, defer and will put their defense on the field first. — Gabriel
Pre-game updates
Fashion statement (6:09 p.m.): Obviously most important story of the week: Sean Payton figured out how to wear the throwbacks and avoid a fashion faux pas.
Throwback sweatshirt, grey pants and electric — I mean, really bright — orange Jordans and cap. — Gabriel
Let's Glow Back (6:03 p.m.): It is Let's Glow Back night at the stadium. Fans are outfitted with glow in the dark. bracelets. ... As for weather it's 60 degrees with 3 mph winds. So the gusts have died down dramatically. So that should not be a factor. -- Renck
Broncos inactives tonight (4:47 p.m.):
- CB Pat Surtain (pec)
- TE Nate Adkins (knee)
- WR Marvin Mims (concussion)
- RB Jaleel McLaughlin
- OLB Que Robinson
- DL Sai'Vion Jones
- DL Jordan Jackson
— Gabriel
Meet Pete (4:14 p.m.): Easy highlight of the pregame proceedings so far: Amazon Prime analyst Kirk Herbstreit's on the sideline with his golden retriever, Pete. Pete's got a throwback Broncos bandana on. It's a scene. — Gabriel
Good afternoon from Empower Field (3:26 p.m.): It's Week 10 already and it's time for Thursday Night Football. The Broncos look to run their winning streak to seven games tonight and do so as 9.5-point favorites over Las Vegas. The wind is blowing hard outside the stadium, so it'll be interesting to see if it settles down this evening or if it'll have a big impact on the proceedings tonight. — Gabriel
Scouting report (1:27 p.m.): Check out how the Broncos match up with the Raiders in Luca Evans' scouting report.
Game predictions
Parker Gabriel, Broncos writer: Broncos 31, Raiders 13
Thursday Night Football games can be weird. Teams that get off to strong starts fare abnormally well. Denver … hasn’t been that. They’ve been a fourth-quarter comeback juggernaut with a minus-1 point differential the first 45 minutes of games and plus-60 mark in the fourth. But they’re also rolling, motivated and locked in. The Raiders are flailing and just traded away top receiver Jakobi Meyers. Sean Payton’s team should take care of business, then turn its attention to a Nov. 16 showdown with the Chiefs.
Luca Evans, Broncos writer: Broncos 31, Raiders 19
Feels like a good week for Sean Payton and Bo Nix to get back on track in an offensive season thatap fallen off the rails and back on again for nine straight games. The Raiders are plenty more fearsome with tight end Brock Bowers back in the mix, and this could be the week that the Broncos’ secondary caves a bit without Pat Surtain II. But Denver’s red-zone defense is just too good to let Las Vegas turn this into a shootout.
Troy Renck, columnist: Broncos 29, Raiders 10
Coach Sean Payton digs stats, uses them as motivation. He passed along this nugget this week: Per his research team, home teams that lead at halftime of Thursday night games win roughly 90 percent of the time. So maybe the Broncos will let down their hair and go to the air beyond screens and checkdowns in the first quarter. This is a get-right game for the offense and a chance for the defense to show it can do the one thing missing on the resume: get takeaways.
Sean Keeler, columnist: Broncos 30, Raiders 13
Geno Smith ranks 26th out of 36 QBs in sack rate (7.75%) among NFL signal-callers who’ve played at least 100 snaps this year. Brock Bowers will be a problem, sure, but we already know the script, don’t we? Bo Nix throws screen after screen early while Vegas jumps out to a 13-0 lead. The natives get restless with a quarter-and-a-half left. Then the Broncos go on a 30-0 spurt the rest of the way to close out the tilt. Hey, if the formula’s rocking, why change it now?
Broncos-Raiders NFL Week 10: Must-reads
How Broncos’ receivers have adapted to Sean Payton’s shifting personnel: ‘You just gotta make it work’
In the Broncos’ Week 8 blowout of the Cowboys, Denver ran out 25 unique combinations of receivers, tight ends and fullbacks, as charted by The Denver Post. Fifteen of those combinations rotated in for a single play.
Halfway through Payton’s third season in Denver, a bevy of fresh and young faces are in varying stages of understanding how to stay on the field. Engram, a nine-year NFL vet, is playing by far the fewest snaps of his career. Third-round rookie Pat Bryant has worked himself into the rotation by blocking. Second-year wideout Troy Franklin has learned to better play the Z next to stalwart No. 1 Courtland Sutton. Read Luca Evans' story.
Renck: Darren Rizzi finally owned Broncos’ special teams errors, but can Sean Payton trust him to fix it?
The Broncos’ special teams are like “Pulp Fiction.” The longer you watch, the more questions you have.
Denver ranked top five in special teams last year under Ben Kotwica. This season, it is considered a win if the Broncos commit fewer than five blunders a week under Darren Rizzi.
The Broncos are bad. They have a new coordinator. Are the two related? It sure seems like it. However, the man whose only opinion matters, coach Sean Payton, does not think so. Read Troy Renck's column.
Broncos confident after quiet NFL trade deadline: ‘We’ve got all the pieces’
On a blockbuster day in the NFL, the Broncos made no moves. The NFL trade deadline provided earthquakes elsewhere in the league, but nary a ripple in Denver.
They didn’t rent a veteran on an expiring contract. They didn’t pay a premium for a young star. They didn’t bolster their tight end room, overhaul their receiver group or pursue an inside linebacker.
General manager George Paton and head coach Sean Payton surveyed the landscape over the past few days, made some inquiries and fielded calls like all teams do, but in the end didn’t find a deal they liked for their first-place club. Read Parker Gabriel's story.
