Davante Adams scores game-winning touchdown as Raiders top Broncos

By Case Keefer (contact)

Published Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022 | 2 a.m.

Updated Sunday, Nov. 20, 2022 | 4:37 p.m.

The Raiders did what they couldn’t the last two weeks and pulled off a game-winning drive to snap a losing streak.

A coverage breakdown left Raiders receiver Davante Adams all alone streaking towards the end zone in overtime, and he calmly hauled in a 35-yard touchdown pass from Derek Carr for a 22-16 Raiders' win over the Broncos.

Las Vegas (3-7) still has a long way to go to salvage its season, but it’s no longer in last place in the AFC West after sweeping Denver (3-7) for the third straight year. The six-game win streak in the rivalry is the longest for the Raiders since the 1970s.

More importantly to this year’s players, it snaps a three-game losing streak that included a pair of losses by a touchdown or less the last two weeks. The Raiders couldn’t come up with the decisive plays at the end of the game against the Jaguars and Colts, but they did against the Broncos.

Foster Moreau put the Raiders in position for the game-winning touchdown with a 33-yard reception down the middle of the field the play before Adams’ score. Neither the Broncos nor the Raiders had scored a touchdown since the opening 20 minutes of the game.

Las Vegas kicker Daniel Carlson and Denver kicker Brandon McManus spent the rest of the afternoon swapping field goals with a 25-yarder from the former forcing overtime at the end of the regulation.

Adams and running back Josh Jacobs carried the brunt of the Raiders’ offense with a combined 312 rushing and receiving yards. Adams scored the Raiders’ only other touchdown on a play to similar to his final score, except for the fact that he was double-covered before catching the 31-yard pass from Carr.

Las Vegas returns to action next Sunday at Seattle.

This is a developing story. Check later for more coverage and read below for live updates from throughout the game.

With seven minutes to play, the Raiders and Broncos are tied at 13.

Daniel Carlson made a 57-yarder after to score the Raiders’ latest three points. Both Carlson and Broncos kicker Brandon McManus have made a pair of field goals to go with one unsuccessful attempt.

Las Vegas’ defense has played well in the second half and given up only three points to McManus, and will need to build on it in a game that looks destined to come down to the end.

Broncos back on top

The Broncos went up 13-10 on the Raiders at Empower Field at Mile High to start the fourth quarter.

Brandon McManus made a 52-yard field goal after Maxx Crosby single-handedly stalled the drive. Crosby caught Melvin Gordon from behind on a second-down screen pass, and then got his second sack of the day on Russell Wilson.

Crosby also leads the Raiders with six tackles on the day, including two for loss. The defense has done its part but now the offense will need to score some points to break a three-game losing streak.

Raiders tie it up

It’s a tie game at Empower Field at Mile High.

Daniel Carlson just made a 52-yard field goal — after missing an earlier 47-yarder — to make the score 10-10. Josh Jacobs, who has 85 yards on 16 carries, led Las Vegas down the field on the drive.

There wasn’t too far the offense needed to go, however, after a Maxx Crosby sack forced a three-and-out on the Broncos’ offense out of halftime.

The Raiders took over at their own 47-yard line to start the scoring drive.

Davante Adams making plays

Davante Adams has his ninth touchdown as a Raider.

Las Vegas’ top target caught a 31-yard score on a post route from quarterback Derek Carr to cut the Broncos’ lead to 10-7 at Empower Field at Mile high. The Raiders went 85 yards on their scoring drive with Adams also producing the second-longest play with a 23-yard catch on a 2^nd-and-20 play deep in the team’s own territory.

Adams has five catches for 94 yards with 5:36 to go in the second quarter.

Broncos score on opening drive

The Raiders are down early at Empower Field at Mile High.

Denver went 92 yards on seven plays to find the end zone on its opening drive when Latavius Murray ran in a one-yard touchdown. The play before, a 33-yard pass from Russell Wilson to Kendall Hinton, was initially called a touchdown but overturned upon further review.

The Raiders got into Broncos’ territory on their first drive via a couple big catches from Davante Adams, but a holding penalty on Mack Holliins backed them up and wouldn’t let them go further.

Miller in, Tillery out

Raiders left tackle Kolton Miller will miss just the third game in his five-year career today at the Broncos.

Miller was limited in practice this week with shoulder and abdomen injuries but went through a brief workout on the field at Empower Field. The injuries must not have responded well enough because the team captain was just listed on the team’s inactive list alongside defensive tackle Kendal Vickers, defensive tackle Matthew Butler, cornerback Sidney Jones, running back Zamir White and tight end Jacob Hollister.

That means Las Vegas will play new defensive tackle Jerry Tillery, who they claimed off waivers from the Chargers earlier this week. Jones similarly came aboard last week after Seattle cut him and debuted in last week’s loss to Indianapolis but apparently didn’t show enough to be active for a second straight game.

The Raiders promoted third-year player Tyler Hall from the practice squad to the active roster meaning he could get defensive snaps in place of Jones, or perhaps just play special teams.

Jermaine Eluemunor is expected to switch to left tackle with Miller out with Thayer Munford starting at right tackle with Miller out.

Pregame

This season hasn’t produced many moments for Raiders’ fans to take pride in, but one of the few instances came in Week 4 when the franchise built on its recent dominance over rival Denver.

The Raiders beat the Broncos 32-23 for their fifth consecutive win in the series, having not lost a game to them since moving to Las Vegas. If the Raiders can make it six straight over the Broncos on the road Sunday, it will be the longest winning streak against them since 1971.

Both teams look quite a bit different from their early-season meeting though.

Las Vegas most notably is without a trio of its best players — cornerback Nate Hobbs, tight end Darren Waller and slot receiver Hunter Renfrow — who have been added to injured reserve.

Denver’s injury list is even lengthier and headlined by the likes of running back Javonte Williams, edge rusher Randy Gregory, cornerback Ronald Darby and left tackle Garrett Bolles. The Broncos also traded longtime team captain and edge rusher Bradley Chubb to the Dolphins at the trade deadline.

Favorable matchup: Running back Josh Jacobs vs. Broncos’ defense

This shouldn’t be a strong matchup on paper with the Broncos having fielded a decent rush defense over the past couple seasons, but history says otherwise. Jacobs has consistently crushed Denver with 719 combined rushing and receiving yards and nine touchdowns in six career games. He’s set career highs in single-game rushing yards in each of the last two games against the Broncos, including in Week 4 when he ran for 144 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries. Jacobs went on to break his personal record again the next week, rushing for 154 yards in a loss to the Chiefs, but his career numbers against the Broncos still stand above. It’s expected to be chilly in Denver, around 40 degrees at kickoff, so the Raiders are likely to stick with the ground game as a big part of their game plan. Broncos linebackers Josey Jewell and Alex Singleton have both been above-average run-stuffers this season but Jacobs has eluded them before.

Problematic matchup: Wide receiver Davante Adams vs. Broncos cornerback Patrick Surtain II

Adams has put up his two largest receiving yards totals with the Raiders in the last two weeks — going for 126 yards in a loss to the Colts and 146 yards in a loss to the Jaguars — but he’ll get more resistance this week. The second-year Surtain is the top-rated cornerback in the league by Pro Football Focus and drew praise from Adams after their first matchup. “I’ve got a lot of respect for what he can do,” Adams said postgame. Surtain didn’t exclusively shadow Adams in the first game between the teams but may this time given the Raiders’ weakened receiving corps. Surtain did give up a season-high eight receptions for 70 receiving yards in Las Vegas, according to Pro Football Reference, with Adams claiming most of the production. But that was on 14 targets, more than double how often any other opponent has thrown at him this season. Over Denver’s last four games, Surtain has elevated to a transcendent level — giving up only three catches for nine yards.

Gamebreaker: Punter AJ Cole

The Raiders’ Pro Bowl punter has been one of their most unique weapons over the last few years, but it’s usually been because of leg power that’s had him at the top of the league in average distance. Coach Josh McDaniels asked Cole to make a change in recent weeks and instead emphasize hang time to allow the coverage unit to get further down the field. He’s been blown away by how fast he’s seen the results. “(Cole) worked his butt off on getting it right, and now he's putting our gunners in a great position to tackle the ball without much return yards,” McDaniels said of his punter. Cole also had a pair of 50+ yard punts against the Colts to flip field position, including a 54-yarder at the start of the fourth quarter that pinned the visitors against the goal line. It led to a three-and-out, and the Raiders getting the ball back inside Indianapolis territory to take the lead with a short touchdown drive. Punters don’t get much acclaim, but Cole is likely the best one in the NFL.

Big Number: 107

That’s opposing quarterbacks’ passer rating against the Raiders’ defense this season, according to a tweet by ESPN producer Paul Hembekides. For perspective, Hembekides points out that the greatest all-time NFL passer rating is 105.8, held by current Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. The Raiders’ pass defense has been historically poor this season, especially in the last four weeks since Hobbs broke his hand. The Broncos’ passing offense hasn’t played well either, but quarterback Russell Wilson had his best game of the year in the Week 4 loss to the Raiders with 237 yards and two touchdowns on 17-for-25 passing. Wilson’s average of 9.5 yards per attempt in that game against the Raiders was 1.1 yards higher than he’s managed in any other game and 2.2 yards more than his full-season clip. Las Vegas must improve at least marginally against the pass if it wants to show progress over the second half of the year.

THEY SAID IT

“I don’t know if it’s their colors or what it is. Nah, I’m just playing…but now it’s a completely different defense. You’ve got to watch the last few games they’ve had and obviously they just played well against one of the best running backs in this league, Derrick Henry, so it’s going to be interesting.”

— Jacobs when asked about his success against the Broncos and if it will help him this time around

“Nope. Nope. Nope. I’ll probably be in front of the camera doing something. I don’t have the patience. I only have patience for my kids, not grown men.”

— Linebacker Denzel Perryman when asked if he’ll pursue a post-playing career in coaching after wearing a headset to help the coaching staff while injured and inactive last week

“It comes down to a season where we’re not meeting expectations and (I’m) a dude who signed a big, shiny new contract with big expectations for him. People can throw me under the bus, blame me. It is what it is. It’s how it’s going to be. I know how it goes, and I’m tough enough to handle it.”

— Waller on reports that teammates are frustrated with his addition to the injured reserve list after a slow return from a hamstring injury

“I don’t think a playoff game has been won in over 20 years here. There’s no magic coach that’s going to come in here and change that…Some of the greatest coaches the league has seen had tough times. I’m sure they didn’t all come out of the blocks sprinting like Usain Bolt starting their career off with a new organization.”

— Adams defending McDaniels against those calling for his job

Best Bet (3-6): Melvin Gordon under 39.5 rushing yards

Gordon hasn’t eclipsed this number in the Broncos’ last four games and has been losing snaps and carries, most recently to fellow veteran Latavius Murray. Counting on the Raiders’ defense for anything right now is a risky proposition, but the unit is at least not nearly as bad against the run as it is against the pass. Gordon had three carries for eight yards in the first game against the Raiders this year, and that was with Williams healthy for most of the afternoon before being carted off the field with a torn ACL in the third quarter. Denver had a pass-heavier game plan in Las Vegas, and given the aforementioned success it found, may not stray too far from it again this week. Regardless, this number looks too high.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or