Raiders’ defense dominates in rivalry win vs. Broncos

The Raiders parlayed four interceptions and a fumble recovery and a big day by running back Josh Jacobs for a 37-12 win over the Denver Broncos Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.

The Raiders improve to 6-3 going into a rematch against defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City next week in Las Vegas. The Broncos fell to 3-6.

Jacobs had touchdown runs of 5 and 11 yards, Daniel Carlson had field goals of 24, 52 and 22 yards, and Devontae Booker had fourth-quarter scoring runs of 7 and 23 yards to account for the Raiders scoring.

The Broncos managed field goals of 50 and 33 yards by Brandon McManus before finally getting their first touchdown trailing by 24 points with 6:55 left on a 7-yard touchdown from Drew Lock to DaeSean Hamilton.

Jacobs rushed for 112 yards on 21 carries, with Booker adding 81 on 16 attempts as the Raiders ran for 204 yards overall compared to 66 yards rushing for Denver.

Safety Jeff Heath had two interceptions of Lock, with defensive end Carl Nassib and Nick Kwiatkoski getting one each. Kwiatkoski’s one-handed pick of Lock came with 18 seconds left and closed off Denver’s last scoring opportunity.

Quarterback Derek Carr was 16 of 25 for 154 yards as the Raiders were content to run the ball and play field position on a day when they weren’t particularly sharp in the passing game. Included were a pair of dropped potential touchdowns from Nelson Agholor and Darren Waller.

The Raiders came in to the game with just five takeaways in eight games before Sunday’s avalanche.

Highs, lows and everything you need to know:

— Fumblw!!: Nevin Lawson forced and recovered a Hamilton fumble in the fourth quarter, which led to a Booker’s 7-yard touchdown run for a 30-6 lead with 10 minutes to play.

Booker joined the Raiders as a free agent after four seasons with the Broncos.

Double ejection: The Broncos Tim Patrick and the Raiders Isaiah Johnson were ejected early in the fourth quarter on a play in which Johnathan Abram gave Patrick a shove and Patrick threw a punch. Johnson then took a swing at Patrick.

— Nassib with the pick: The Raiders went up 23-6 on a 22-yard Carlson field goal, set up by an interception and 23-yard return by Carl Nassib.

Nassib signed with the Raiders as a former 3-4 linebacker in part so he could put his hand down and rush the passer. On this play, however, he dropped into coverage and Lock threw him the ball when pressured by Nicholas Morrow.

The Raiders failed to convert the turnover into a touchdown, but did add three more points on Carlson’s third field goal.

— Taking control: The Raiders went on an 11-play, 78-yard drive following a Broncos punt to take a 20-6 lead with 36 seconds left in the third quarter. Jacobs did the honors with a 5yard run.

Included was a nice bit of improvisation by Carr for a 22-yard pass to Henry Ruggs III on third-and–4, breaking to his left and lofting a pass that was caught for the first down. They overcame a holding penalty on Denzelle Good which set up a second-and18 with Carr hitting Jacobs for 13 yards out of the backfield and Darren Waller for five and the first down to the 5.

— Waller drops a big one: Waller appeared to have a 55-yard touchdown pass after getting open on the first possession of the second half but dropped a Carr pass that was ever-soslightly underthrown but easily catchable.

The tight end came back to catch a 24-yard pass on third down, but the Raiders were eventually forced to settle for Carlson’s 52-yard field goal with 9:13 left in the third quarter. Carlson had made all four of his attempts from 50 and beyond in 2020.