Post-Gruden era begins with a win
DENVER — Derek Carr sliced up the Denver defense for 341 yards and two touchdowns, Maxx Crosby made three sacks and the Las Vegas Raiders started the post-Jon Gruden era with a 34-24 thrashing of the bewildered Broncos on Sunday.
The Raiders gave longtime special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia a win in his debut as interim head coach and offensive coordinator Greg Olson was masterful in his first play-calling duties for Las Vegas since Carr’s rookie season in 2014.
“The best part for me was to get on the grass,” Bisaccia said. “The worst part for me was figuring out the headset. Once you get on the field and the game goes, a lot of our responsibilities were the same.”
There was really good dialogue with his coordinators. The headset? “Oh, there’s a button on there and I have to press it if I want to talk,” Bisaccia explained. “Back in the day when I wore a headset set we didn’t have all those buttons.”
The Raiders began by ending an 11-game streak without a score on their opening drive. Henry Ruggs III hauled in a 48-yard touchdown catch to make it 7-0. They never let up, burning the Broncos’ beleaguered secondary that couldn’t keep up with Carr and his targets.
“Simply put we got our butts whooped,” Broncos safety Justin Simmons said after Denver allowed seven pass plays of at least 25 yards. “I know there’s going to be questions about the secondary. We’ve got to play better. I’ve got to play better and I’m going to get this figured out.”
Nor could Denver’s deficient offense keep pace. Teddy Bridgewater threw a seasonhigh three interceptions and lost a fumble, negating his 334 yards passing and three touchdowns.
The Broncos lost their third consecutive game, but the other defeats came at the hands of Ravens and Steelers and their veteran coaches John Harbaugh and Mike Tomlin.
The Raiders appeared to have a season on the brink after Gruden resigned Monday night when it was revealed emails he sent before being hired in 2018 contained racist, homophobic and misogynistic comments directed at several people in the NFL.
But the Raiders didn’t seem one bit bothered by the chaos as they moved into a tie atop the AFC West with the Chargers.