Broncos vs Raiders: 7 winners, 4 losers, and 1 “both” from Denver’s exhilarating win

There is no such thing as an ugly win.

When the Denver Broncos do it against the hated Oakland Raiders, that is especially true. The Broncos are 2-0 after the latest version of Mile High magic brought a pulsating 20-19 win on Sunday. Meanwhile, Jon Gruden and Oakland fall to 0-2.

Winners

Case Keenum

After a forgettable first half and another horrible interception, Keenum stepped up in the second half in a major way. When his team needed it, he delivered another game-winning drive. This time with under 2 minutes and down by two points. Let’s also not forget about his touchdown on fourth down.

I love the balls, fortitude and guts Keenum plays with. Sunday was very John Elway-esque from the Broncos new quarterback. The numbers weren’t that impressive, and Keenum has to eliminate the turnovers, but that second half, his touchdown run and drive were damn impressive.

Phillip Lindsay

What else is there to say about the undrafted running back? He made the case yet again that he should be Denver’s No. 1 running back. Whenever Lindsay is on the field, he makes plays. He led the Broncos in rushing with 107 yards on 14 carries for an eye-popping 7.6 yards per carry.

Lindsay also is the first undrafted player in NFL history with 100 or more scrimmage yards in each of his first two games.

Shaquil Barrett

Whenever Barrett is on the field, he finds a way to make an impact. This week it was a blocked extra point that proved the difference in the game.

Here’s hoping the defensive coaches realize that fact, and Barrett sees the field more on defense. This is two weeks in a row he’s made the most of his time on the field.

Emmanuel Sanders

You think He-manuel loves having a quarterback? When Keenum finally targeted Sanders, the game turned in the offense’s favor. Sanders had four catches for 96 yards on four targets.

Tim Patrick

He had only one catch for 26 yards, but talk about clutch. He also was robbed of a touchdown, but I digress. Patrick’s catch with 18 seconds remaining set up the potential game-winning field goal. Speaking of which ...

Brandon McManus

When you hit the game winner against the Raiders, you make the list. McManus nailed it from 36 yards. He was 2-for-2, with the other coming from 39 yards.

Pat Bowlen

As Patrick Smyth said on Twitter, Sunday’s win by the Broncos was the 350th overall victory of Bowlen’s ownership, marking the fastest — by far — any owner has reached that milestone (581 games). The next stop for Denver’s owner is the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Both

The Broncos coaching staff

The first half showing by Denver’s offense was atrocious. To the credit of Bill Musgrave and his staff, they made adjustments in the second half. It was a 180-degree change for the Broncos defense. Joe Woods seemed to make no adjustments to having his defensive backs play press coverage, and he had his pass rushers in coverage on pass-rushing downs. But the defense stepped up for a big stop to allow Keenum and the offense to win the game.

Losers

Broncos secondary

This game did nothing to quiet the fans who wanted to keep Aqib Talib. Until further notice, this unit is the Fly Zone. Tramaine Brock and Adam Jones weren’t good.

Demaryius Thomas

Three drops on the day, one that could have been fatal for his team. I’ve been a staunch defender of Thomas, and think he’s one of the all-time greats for this organization. But that drop at the end of the game was putrid. The onus is on Thomas to ensure this stops, or he’s a liability for Denver’s offense.

The officiating crew

John Hussey and his crew were terrible on Sunday. However you feel about Patrick’s should-have been touchdown, the call on Courtland Sutton was straight bullshit.

The Raiders

They would go here, even if they had won the game. But since they’re losers in every fashion, it’s extra sweet they’re figurative and literal losers on Sunday.

Now for a joke from Jess Place.

Knock knock.

Who’s there?

Owen.

Owen who?

Ow-and-2 Raiders.