DERBY CATCHES ATTENTION ON TD

A.J. Derby played in the 14th game of his career Sunday. The Broncos tight end was unable to catch a touchdown pass in his first 13.

When Derby finally did cross the goal line, in the first quarter against the Raiders, he did so in style.

Streaking down the right sideline, Derby shot his right arm above his head and snagged the pass from Trevor Siemian at the 8-yard line. The tight end never brought his other hand onto the ball as he tiptoed down the sideline and into the end zone for a 22-yard score that put the Broncos up 7-0.

It was a play straight out a YouTube reel of Odell Beckham acrobatics. Only with a much more subdued reaction by the starring actor.

“It was just a great throw by Trevor, and the offensive line did a great job on their good front seven,” Derby said. “I just made a play.”

It was the most eye-popping play of Derby’s career, but it wasn’t the only one he made Sunday. The play before the touchdown, he hauled in a 29-yard reception along the sideline, the longest of his career.

“We were just saying how that drive was kind of the ‘A.J. Derby Show,’ ” Siemian said. “He had a similar route the play before (the touchdown), and he did a good job getting open. That was a pretty good day, so I’m happy for him.”

Derby finished with four catches for a career-high 75 yards.

Red zone woes.

For the second straight game, the Broncos lamented missed opportunities in the red zone. Denver marched inside the Oakland 20-yard line four times and had only four field-goal attempts, one of which was missed, to show for it.

“We’re hurting ourselves down there,” Siemian said. “I’ve got to watch everything, but we have to find a way to get touchdowns instead of field goals.”

A false-start penalty and two sacks of Siemian by Khalil Mack were among the culprits.

“We have to find a way to put the ball in the box and bury teams,” running back C.J. Anderson said. “We don’t want to keep games close like that. We need to bury them.”

Not faked.

The Broncos failed in their attempt at a fake punt during their loss at Buffalo a week ago. They weren’t about to be on the wrong end of that kind of play again.

The Raiders, trailing 16-7 and facing a fourth-and-11 at their own 33-yard line with 5:12 left in the third quarter, rolled the dice on a fake punt. Oakland punter Marquette King sprinted to the right, but he had nowhere to go. Jordan Taylor tackled King for a 3-yard loss, and King compounded the damage by throwing the ball at a Broncos player, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

Special-teams coach Brock Olivo said the Broncos were prepared for the athletic King, the NFL’s top punter in both overall and net average, to do more than boot the ball. “We were looking for a spark,” Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. “It didn’t work.”

But the Raiders limited the damage when Brandon McManus missed a 29-yard field goal, his third wayward attempt of the season, on Denver’s ensuing possession.

Footnotes.

Todd Davis was the Broncos’ game day captain. … The Broncos have now won 31 consecutive games when they win the turnover battle, the longest active streak in the league.