When it comes to picking the worst game in Thursday night football history, a 2022 game between the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos is the consensus choice. Past-their-prime quarterbacks Matt Ryan and Russell Wilson dueled to a 12-9 Colts win with no touchdowns scored. It was awful.
The Broncos’ game against the Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday night tried to make a run at the title.
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On a windy night in Denver, both teams flailed around for four quarters. Both offenses were awful. Special teams were bad, too. Nothing about the game was pretty.
The only positive to be said for the Broncos is that they won. They got a field goal in the second half, the only points after halftime, and that held up for a 10-7 win. The number of times Broncos fans booed the offense off the field before another punt far outnumbered the highlights from both teams.
The Broncos are 8-2 after the win, but nobody in Denver should be feeling all that good about how they played. A win is a win, which is the rosiest way to sum up the Broncos’ night.
Broncos defenders Zach Allen (99) and Nik Bonitto (15) sack the Raiders’ Geno Smith (7) on Thursday at Empower Field in Denver. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
(AAron Ontiveroz via Getty Images)Rough first half for both teams
On the Amazon Prime Video broadcast, conditions looked fine. It wasn’t snowing or raining. But the weather played a big role in the game.
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High winds made it tough on both teams. Punting was very difficult; the Broncos’ Jeremy Crawshaw almost completely whiffed on a punt and barely hit it with the inside of his foot. Offense was very limited with the wind, though those struggles can’t be completely blamed on the wind.
The Raiders’ Geno Smith took five sacks in the first half and six for the game. The Broncos rushed for just 24 yards in the first half, and the Raiders’ front isn’t intimidating anyone. Bo Nix was regularly misfiring on his passes. The Broncos took a long time to put together a scoring drive, but finally did in the second quarter. Troy Franklin caught a 7-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7. Ashton Jeanty had scored for the Raiders in the first quarter.
Neither team had much to be proud about at halftime. It looked like one of those sloppy Thursday night games that everyone complains about. It didn’t get better after halftime.
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Second half gets even worse
The Broncos’ offense tried someone else other than Nix throwing the ball, and that didn’t work out. In the third quarter, the Broncos ran a trick play on a third down. It was a backward lateral to receiver Courtland Sutton, who wanted to pass but couldn’t find anyone downfield once he gathered himself and took a sack for a loss. Broncos kicker Wil Lutz missed short on a 59-yard field goal on the next play. That sequence summed up the follies. The fans booed some more.
The Broncos’ defense kept bailing out the offense though. Right after the missed field goal, Jeanty had a pass go right through his hands, it bounced up into the air and linebacker Dondrea Tillman picked it off. The Broncos couldn’t turn that into any points, as they went three-and-out to more boos from the home crowd.
It’s not like the Raiders were taking advantage. Las Vegas went seven consecutive possessions without a first down, a streak that was the longest in the NFL this season, according to Amazon Prime Video. When they finally broke the streak in the fourth quarter, it had been almost two full quarters of football without a Raiders first down.
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Smith was limping around, having injured his left leg on a tackle early in the fourth quarter. But after missing two plays, he stayed in the game. When Nix threw an interception, which bounced off Franklin’s arm to Kyu Blu Kelly for Kelly’s second interception, the Raiders took over in Broncos territory with a chance to at least tie the game late. Smith had a shot to be the hero. He could only lead a short drive, which set up a field-goal attempt for the tie. Daniel Carlson missed it wide right. Of course.
The Broncos did enough to put the game away after that missed field goal. They got some first downs and ate up the rest of the clock.
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There were only three points scored in the second half, but it was enough for a Broncos win. Neither team will want to remember much about Thursday night’s game.