Winners and losers for Denver Broncos as the curse of silver and black is lifted

The Denver Broncos played one of their best games in quite some time on Sunday, soundly beating the Las Vegas Raiders despite an early 10-0 hole. The win was the team’s first win over the Raiders in nearly five years.

It was also a fun day for the home crowd at Empower Field. The Broncos wore their old throwback jerseys as they celebrated the 1977 AFC Championship team and dished out an old-fashioned beatdown as they defeated the Raiders by a final score of 34-18.

If you’re a Broncos fan, there wasn’t much to complain about in this game, but it’s hard to pitch a perfect game. There were several winners and a few losers.

Denver Broncos Week 5 Winners and Losers

Winner: Patrick Surtain II, CB

This is the only place to start. Patrick Surtain was a big part of the reason the Broncos won this game, thanks to this play.

The Broncos fell behind early in this game and the Raiders looked better than they have for much of this season. Just moments from trailing 17-3, Surtain caught this errant pass from Gardner Minshew and took it back 100 yards for a touchdown.

Surtain added a second interception later in the game. Those who don’t think he’s the best cornerback in the NFL right now better have an incredibly compelling argument.

Winner: Riley Moss, CB

Surtain set the pace in this game, but his cornerback counterpart, Riley Moss, wasn’t too shabby either.

Moss was a surprising part of this great defense this year, holding his own in one of the toughest positions in the sport. He had a nice knockdown of a pass in this game before later throwing in his first career interception.

Winner: Bo Nix, QB

Bo Nix isn’t setting the world on fire like Jayden Daniels in Washington, but there is growth and there is improvement and it’s not hard to see. His confidence has increased and it shows on the field. He’s starting to get a handle on this offense and things are starting to flow more freely, all things that were expected when he had the opportunity to get some playing time under his belt.

Nix threw for 206 yards and two touchdowns in this game against the Raiders. He also scored a rushing touchdown. He also had an intense moment with head coach Sean Payton on the sideline, but that could actually be a good sign for the young quarterback.

Winner: Javonte Williams, RB

You won’t see it when you look at the stats, but this was by far Javonte Williams’ best game of the season. He carried the ball 13 times for 61 yards and caught five passes for 50 yards, but the big number was his 4.7 yards per carry.

Williams also showed some agility, making some good cuts and also reminded fans of his straight-line strength, running through and over tacklers in this match. The way Williams played in this match was very encouraging.

Winner: Pass Rush

Vance Joseph’s defense harasses quarterbacks and creates plenty of rushes while also racking up some sacks. Zach Allen, Jonathon Cooper and Nik Bonitto all got to the quarterback in this game.

The Broncos don’t have an elite pass rusher, but they have managed to produce a solid pass rush that is part of one of the league’s best defenses.

Winner: Justin Strnad, Linebacker

When the Broncos lost Alex Singleton for the season, someone had to step up and reflect what he did on the field, which was to be involved in almost every defensive play. Justin Strnad got that memo.

Strnad, who has primarily been a special teams guy for most of his career, has had two great weeks in a row. He led the team with nine tackles on Sunday and was everywhere on the field, especially in the second half.

Loser: Troy Franklin, WR

Troy Franklin is still getting off to a slow start in his rookie season, but the team has decided to make him active on game day before Devaughn Vele, the reverse of what happened in Week 1.

Franklin caught one pass for 20 yards in this game, but his first career touchdown should have been one he caught in his sleep. Nix found him wide open on a deep route and the ball went right through his hands. Hopefully Franklin will get the chance to atone for that soon.

Loser: Greg Dulcich, TE

Greg Dulcich didn’t have a bad game against the Raiders… because he didn’t even get a chance to have a bad game. The Broncos made Dulcich inactive for the game in favor of Lucas Krull. You have to wonder what that means for his future.

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