Trevor Siemian proves himself in Broncos 21-14 loss to Raiders

The fire in their bellies we’d hoped to see from the Denver Broncos was actually just a dumpster fire of a team imploding. The Oakland Raiders quickly put up a two touchdown lead and essentially ended all hope for Denver.

Trevor Siemian came back into the lineup for an injured Paxton Lynch and would lead the Broncos to a near comeback in the final quarter and half coming up short 21-14.

First Quarter

Just seven plays into the game Chris Harris Jr. was sucker punched in a foul that was not noticed by the referees and on the very next play there was a bench-clearing brawl that began with Aqib Talib and Michael Crabtree getting into another scuffle

Talib actually started the fight by ripping Crabtree’s chain off - yet again - during the play. Both were ejected, along with Raiders lineman Gabe Jackson.

A strip-sack by Shaquil Barrett late in the first quarter created a potential scoring opportunity as the quarter ended with the Broncos in field goal range.

Broncos 0, Raiders 0.

Second Quarter

A nice pass to Devontae Booker from Paxton Lynch was called a touchdown, but upon review was ruled down at the one. Lynch tried to squeeze a pass into Virgil Green that was tipped up and tipped around in an amazing interception by Navarro Bowman to end a scoring opportunity for the Broncos early in the second quarter. It was a pass that Green should have caught too, which only made the play hurt that much more.

The Raiders took advantage of the turnover, marching down the field to score a touchdown on a pass from Derek Carr to Amari Cooper who was being covered by Brendan Langley in for Talib.

Late in the half, the Raiders added another touchdown on a drive heavily aided by the referees who called about four penalties on the Broncos to keep the drive going. After the Marshawn Lynch 1-yard touchdown run, the Raiders went into the half up two touchdowns.

Raiders 14, Broncos 0.

Third Quarter

Call after call continued to go against the Broncos and the defense finally looked like it had had enough. Why play hard when your starting quarterback midway through the third quarter was 9/14 for 41 yards an interception and four sacks?

Lynch was injured on a play late in the third quarter and knew he may have lost his only chance to make a career in Denver.

With that injury, Trevor Siemian made his glorious return to the lineup. He promptly threw a ball to no one twice and the Broncos went three and out. Hope was fleeting for Broncos Country as they entered the fourth.

Raiders 21, Broncos 0.

Fourth Quarter

Siemian and the Broncos finally got things going early in the fourth with a couple of hang-in-there kind of throws from Siemian to get them into field goal range. And on a fourth and six, Siemian connected with Cody Latimer for the touchdown.

A missed field goal by the Raiders with just under six minutes to go in the game gave the Broncos an opportunity to make it a one-score game. Siemian did just that, leading the team down the field for a touchdown to make it a 21-14 game with two and a half minutes left in the game.

The defense brought the heat on a third and long, but Derek Carr threw it up and right into the bucket of his wide receiver for a 50+ yard game to end the game.

Raiders 21, Broncos 14.