The Las Vegas Raiders lost a close contested game to their divisional rivals, the Denver Broncos. The pair of teams faced off on Thursday, November 6th at Empire Field.
The victory for the Broncos pushed them to 8-2 which makes them more likely to win the AFC West division against the other three teams. The loss for the Raiders puts them behind the eight ball, as Vegas falls to 2-7 which makes them unlikely to make the playoffs.
Ashton Jeanty had an impressive game versus the Broncos, as Jeanty rushed for 60 yards and scored a touchdown for the Raiders in the first quarter of the game to put Vegas on the scoreboard early within the game. Jeanty had a costly fumble though that killed the offensive drive the Raiders could have scored on.
Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll addressed all the rookies’ mistakes after the game and expressed how frustrated he is at the rookies making costly mistakes during the game, such as Jeanty fumbling the football.
“Guys that have been around, that wouldn’t have happened to me. We’ll overcome that. If they don’t, they won’t get better and they won’t be here. But they’ll improve on those things,” says Carroll.
For the Broncos, Troy Franklin had a good game against the Raiders. Franklin had 40 receiving yards and a touchdown which was crucial for the Broncos win against the Raiders. Franklin was a key piece to the Broncos offense versus the Raiders and showed up for his team to secure the win in such a big rivalry matchup.
Broncos Head Coach Sean Payton was very impressed about Franklin’s performance versus the Raiders and talks about how Franklin is confident with where he plays on the field.
“It’s happening, and I’m excited. I think we just got to be smart because he’s playing two spots, but he’s having a really good… He’s had a really good camp. He’s confident,”says Payton.
The Raiders played a competitive ball game against the Broncos. The Raiders were keeping the score tight and intense the entire game. Although Vegas fell short from the goal of winning the game, the team played a magnificent game overall.
Carroll was disappointed after the loss against their divisional rivals; he was still proud of his team putting up a decent fight against the Broncos who were projected to win by 10 points going into the game.
“But the way that they competed is just what we’re hoping for, just what we’re looking for. Could we not clip a guy? Could we not hold a guy? Yeah. There are so many things we could get better at. But the fight is in this dog now,¨ says Carroll.
