For the fourth straight season, the Raiders complete the sweep of the Broncos. That’s right, the Las Vegas Raiders have never lost to the Broncos.
Top Baller: HC Antonio PIerce
Don’t tell Pierce there was nothing to play for in this game. He had his team playing like they were fighting for a playoff spot when they weren’t even going for a winning record. And they finished the season strong, creating a memorable moment to close out the season.
With just under five minutes left in the game, the crowd was chanting “AP! AP! AP!” The fiery head coach was living the dream. And afterward all his players talked about how they’d never seen anything like it and they all want him to have the interim tag removed and run it back with Pierce next season. Pierce created this moment and earned a real shot at keeping the job.
Top Buster: LB Divine Deablo
The first touchdown drive saw him give up a nine-yard catch that gave the Broncos a first down at the 22-yard-line. And he gave up a 16-yard catch on third and 15 on the next drive.
The Broncos’ second touchdown drive, Deablo gave up a catch that went for 47 yards and the touchdown at the end of it from two yards out.
Deablo had ten tackles in the game, but only two of them came inside five yards of the line of scrimmage.
Baller: WR Jakobi Meyers
Every time he touched the ball, it was a big play. And even a couple times when he wasn’t the one with the ball.
The Raiders first touchdown drive began with a 12-yard run on which Meyers laid a key block. And it ended with Meyers getting the ball in the left flat, looking to pass, but instead cutting back and running it in for the touchdown.
Their third TD drive, he caught a 17-yard pass on third and nine and then broke wide open for a 33-yard touchdown on the next play.
The final, game-sealing drive, Meyers caught an 11-yard pass on third and eight. The conversion allowed them to drain more time off the clock before adding a field goal to go up 27-14 with just over two minutes left.
Buster: CB Brandon Facyson
Facyson only played 12 snaps, most of which came on one drive. It was the Broncos’ first touchdown drive and it went through Facyson.
On the second play he was out of position to give up a 36-yard catch. Later in the drive he gave up an eight-yard catch, then the two-yard catch for the first down. Two plays later, he was among the defenders who couldn’t make the stop on a 24-yard catch and run by Jerry Jeudy for the score.
Baller: CB Jack Jones
Not only did he not give up any catches, but he made a couple of incredible plays as well.
In the second quarter, Courtland Sutton got frustrated with Jones’s sticky coverage and tried pushing off and was flagged for pass interference.
In the third quarter, Jones single-handedly kept the Broncos out of the end zone. Literally. He used a single hand. He raced over from the outside corner spot, leaping in the air and knocking down a pass at the goal line that was to be caught for a touchdown otherwise. One of the best pass breakups you’ll ever see.
Busters: DT John Jenkins, DT Bilal Nichols
Nichols didn’t show up in the stat column. Not one stat for him in the game of any kind. While Jenkins’s only stats were two assists. Meanwhile both were getting pushed around in the game.
Baller: Zamir White
Just before the half, the Raiders were backed up to their own goal line with 1:43 left. The first play Aidan O’Connell kept it for one yard, making it clear the Raiders were content to drain the clock and head to the half.
Denver tried to keep them from doing that by calling a timeout, thinking they would get the ball back. All of that changed on the next play when Zamir White shot up the middle for 25 yards. Suddenly the possibility of scoring was realistic. And so they did.
The final drive of the game, the best cast scenario was for the Raiders to drain time off the clock and add a score. They were able to do that when White ran for 12 yards to put them in first and goal at the eight.
White finished with 112 yards on 25 carries (4.5 yards per carry).
Ballers: QB Aidan O'Connell, WR Davante Adams, WR Tre Tucker
O’Connell connected twice on the Raiders first TD drive. Once for ten yards on third and eight and then again for eight yards to put the Raiders in the red zone.
Adams led out the Raiders’ second scoring drive with a 17-yard catch and Tucker made a third catch for ten yards.
Just before the half, the 25-yard White run gave the Raiders a shot at scoring again. First it was an 11-yard grab by Adams. Then a few plays later, Tucker got open deep and O’Connell aired it out for a 47-yard bomb. Adams would finish off the drive, when O’Connell put a pass up for him and he caught it for the score.
The two hookups between O’Connell and Jakobi Meyers put them in the end zone again to start the fourth quarter. And the final drive to end it had O’Connell throwing for two third down conversions to Adams and Meyers, followed by a 21-yard pass to Austin Hooper and an 11-yard pass to Tucker that put them firmly in field goal range to seal it.
Ballers: DE Maxx Crosby, DE Malcolm Koonce, DE Tyree Wilson
The Raiders edge rushers were a live group again. Led by Maxx Crosby as always.
Crosby had a pressure to force an incompletion that helped end the Broncos’ second possession in five plays. He nearly did it again on the next drive, but after his sack put the Broncos back 12 yards, they scored from 24 yards out on the next play.
The next drive saw Crosby get pressure on the second play and it was Wilson who would finish it off with a sack. A few plays later, Koonce made a tackle for a loss and the next play Crosby got pressure again, this time Isaiah Pola-Mao would get the sack.
Next possession, Koonce made a QB hit on consecutive plays and they went three-and-out. The second drive of the third quarter would end the same way, this time on fourth down for a turnover on downs.
Crosby would add a tackle for loss in the fourth quarter to finish with two tackles for loss, four QB hits, and a sack. Koonce added a sack late in the game and had three QB hits (one credited to Wilson and one taken away in favor of a penalty), and two tackles for loss. Wilson finished with four QB hits, a sack, and a tackle for loss.
Baller: AJ Cole
Cole averaged 58.5 yards per punt and an astounding 50.3 net yards per punt. His net yards were what an All Pro punter would average in total yards per punt.
His first punt went 66 yards and out of bounds at the 11-yard-line. He had a 60-yard punt in the third quarter that had the Broncos starting at their own 13-yard-line after a block in the back penalty. And he had no touchbacks.
Honorable Mention
DL Adam Butler — Had a tackle for loss to set up a third and long in the second quarter, a sack to end the Broncos’ first drive of the third quarter, and added a QB hit.
G Greg Van Roten — Didn’t give up any run stuffs or pressures. Also was a key block on the final Zamir White first down run that sealed the win.
