Broncos vs. Raiders second quarter recap

The Las Vegas Raiders opened up the second quarter with great field position on the Denver Broncos side of the field after a Teddy Bridgewater interception on fourth down at midfield.

After a first down, the Raiders offense began to stall after Derek Carr was flushed out and run out of bounds for no gain, then an incomplete pass set up a third and 10. Carr was flushed out and run out of bounds again to bring out the field goal unit where Las Vegas would attempt to extend their lead. Daniel Carlson would doink the ball of the uprights to keep the score 10-7 and giving the Broncos back the ball with good field position.

Raiders 10, Broncos 7.

The Broncos capitalized by going three and out. Noah Fant missed on a block that would have sprung Melvin Gordon for 40 yards or maybe even a touchdown it was that wide open down field and then Bridgewater overthrew Courtland Sutton on what would have been an easy touchdown had he thrown it in stride.

From their own 15, the Raiders quickly got out to the 30 yard line. Two plays later on third and 7, Carr had all day to throw and just threw the ball into no mans land to end the drive.

The Broncos offense began racking up some third down conversions on their next drive. The first a short pass to Noah Fant for three yards to pick up a first down, then Teddy went from near sack to scrambling for five yards on a third and four to get Denver another first down at their own 42 yard line.

Things fell apart from there as the offensive line continued to have zero pass protection ability in this game. One first down, Bridgewater was nearly sacked then on second down he had time to throw but with no one open was sacked by Maxx Crosby. On third and 16, Bridgewater threw a screen pass to Melvin Gordon who picked up 10, but the drive would end there.

A poor punt set the Raiders up at their own 25 yard line to start their next drive. A holding penalty pushed the Raiders back into a 1st and 20. A short pass to Darren Waller on first down and a near sack on second down forced Las Vegas into a third and 14. The three and out was forced after Denver rushed just three and kept the ball in front of them to force the punt.

With 2:36 left in the half, the Broncos offense had a chance to score before the half and then get the ball to start the third quarter.

Bridgewater dove into the Kendall Hinton well on first down for a six yard gain, then hit Gordon in the flat for a first down. Teddy Bridgewater came up limping on the play as the clock ticked down to the two minute warning. He had been pressured on nearly every dropback in the game thus far.

A holding call on Noah Fant negated a good first down run and forced Denver into a 1st and 13 at their own 29 yard line with 1:55 left on the clock. A short pass to Gordon underneath gained half of those yards, then Bridgewater found Tim Patrick open but a big hit jarred the ball loose. On third and six, Bridgewater got Courtland Sutton for the first down but he was called for offensive pass interference to negate what would have been a first down. The drive would stall and a Denver punt.

The Raiders did what the Broncos could not. They secured a few chunk plays that ate up very little time on the clock. The biggest was a pass to Darren Waller for 33-yards into field goal range. Then the back was broken on a wheel rate from Carr to Kenyon Drake for a 31-yard touchdown.

Raiders 17, Broncos 7.