Winners and Losers from the Denver Broncos 29-19 win over the Las Vegas Raiders

I give you the winners and losers from a Broncos gritty win on road vs. the Raiders.

This was a messy, sloppy, gritty, and tough divisional game that was a tale of two halves. The Broncos were outplayed in the first half and were trailing at halftime. Those fears of them having a disappointing letdown loss were creeping in and the hopes for the postseason were slipping away.

This is a different Broncos team.

They bounced back in the second half and came away with a tough gritty win on the road vs. their hated divisional rivals. Earlier this season they ended their losing streak to the Raiders and now, with this win, they ended their losing streak to the Raiders on the road and swept the basement-dwelling Raiders as they should.

As for the winners and losers, there are a few standout winners with plenty of potential losers to pick from. With this ending in a win, I will lean on the positive side, but will address the issues I saw in this game.

With all that said, here are your winners and losers from the Broncos’ 29-19 victory over the Raiders.

WINNER – Bo Nix

It was not a perfect game for Nix. He had a few turnover-worthy plays and had multiple passes batted down at the line. However, the rookie was resilient and had himself another two touchdown game and strengthened his case to be the offensive rookie of the year.

Nix finished the game by going 25 for 42 for 273 yards with 2 touchdown passes to Courtland Sutton.

This was a gritty performance by Nix who is stacking good games on top of each other. Playing the Raiders on the road no matter their record is never easy. Not only did he get the job done, he ended both losing streaks to the Raiders and swept the hated divisional rival for the first time in quite a while.

He needs to work on the balls getting batted down at the line, but overall, it was another solid showing by Nix. If he wasn’t the frontrunner for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, he is now.

WINNER – Courtland Sutton

Nix and Sutton have formed a pretty good connection and the two linked up for two touchdowns in the victory over the Raiders. Sutton finished the game with 8 receptions for 97 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Sutton, who was viewed as a disappointment a few years ago and has been on the trade block and/or part of trade rumors has really stepped up the past two seasons. Last year, he had a 10-touchdown season and through 12 games this year, he has 5 touchdown receptions.

He is the Broncos’ number one receiver and came up with multiple big third-down completions along with the two touchdowns. Nix and Sutton will need to continue this production moving forward if they want to have success on offense.

WINNER – Nik Bonitto

Nik Bonitto has become the Broncos’ best pure pass rusher since Von Miller. In this game, he notched his 10th sack of the year in a big way. He had a strip-sack of Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew which effectively, ended the game.

The Broncos pass rush struggled in the first half but really turned it on in the second half. Bonitto’s sack of Minshew was one of the biggest plays of the game and just continued an impressive 2024 season for Bonitto.

Bonitto is well on his way to surpassing 12 or even 15 sacks on the year and is among the NFL sack leaders right now. He should be a Pro Bowler, an All-Pro, and looking at a contract extension from the Broncos in the near future.

WINNER – Brandon Jones

Jones missed last Sunday’s game with an abdomen injury but provided the Broncos with the much-needed spark they needed in this game. His third-quarter interception of Gardner Minshew ignited the Broncos comeback like PS2’s did in the first game.

Jones was signed to replace longtime safety Justin Simmons who was beloved by fans and his teammates and he had some big shoes to fill. So far, he has done a great job and had a Justin Simmons-like impact on this game.

LOSER – Broncos run game

The Broncos run game was mostly non-existent in this one. They only totaled 63 yards against a bad Raiders defense and were stopped for a loss, or at the line of scrimmage multiple times.

Outside of a few Jaleel McLaughlin chunk plays, the Broncos runners struggled to do much of anything. The offensive line struggled to open up running lanes, and the Raiders did a good job of defending the run.

I expected a better run output from the Broncos in this one so the run game made the losers list.

WINNER – Wil Lutz

Without Wil Lutz being clutch and perfect in the game, the Broncos would not have won this game. He was 5 for 5 on field goal attempts in this game, had a long of 54 yards, and was responsible for 17 of the Broncos 29 points.

His addition was controversial because it required a trade and replaced a longtime fan favorite in Brandon McManus, but he has been excellent since joining the Broncos.

Other notable Winners and Losers

LOSER – Broncos special teams: They gave up a long kick return to rookie running back Dylan Laube and a fake punt later in the game. Both of these plays led to points by the Raiders and are lapses they cannot have moving forward. Lutz’s field goals and Dixon’s punts help make up for these, but cannot ignore these two plays.

WINNER – Sean Payton: He has changed the Broncos’ culture and turned them into a tough and gritty team. The Broncos teams of the past few years would not have won this game. They stayed tough mentally and came back to win a tough divisional game on the road.

WINNER – Jonah Elliss: The rookie edge rusher officially ended the game when he sacked Raiders backup quarterback Desmond Ridder in the final seconds of the game. He notched his 4th sack on the year and is flashing real potential moving forward.

WINNER – Marvin Mims: The do-it-all gadget player Mims had another big impact on this game. His long reception late in the game set up Nix and Sutton’s second touchdown of the game. The Broncos lack playmakers, but if Mims can continue to contribute like this, it will be huge for them moving forward.

LOSER – Broncos Offensive Line: Mike McGlinchey had two crucial penalties early in the game and the unit as a whole struggled at times throughout this game. Add in the run game struggles, it simply was not their best effort.

LOSER – Clock management: If they lost the game, this would be a bigger issue for me, but they won, so it’s whatever. How they handled the final few minutes of the game was rough but again, they won the game so nobody will remember this moving forward.

WINNER – Malcolm Roach: He had a sack and maybe a few other plays during the game.

LOSER – First half Broncos: What was that? Thankfully they turned it around in the second half, but that was a tough way to start the game.

WINNER – Devaughn Vele: Almost forgot to mention the rookie who is another breakout player for the Broncos. He finished the game with 6 receptions for 80 yards and has turned into the Broncos number two receiver.