A matchup between the mighty Denver Broncos and the winless Oakland Raiders ended exactly how you might expect. Our takeaways from a 41-17 Broncos win on Sunday:
- Oakland's defense gave Peyton Manning fits early on, forcing the quarterback into two interceptions that led to 10 Raiders points. Things turned in the second quarter, when C.J. Anderson hauled in a third-down checkdown pass and made nearly every Oakland defender miss on a 51-yard touchdown. It was the first of five touchdown passes for Manning, who now has 29 on the season.
- The game was over early in the third quarter when Derek Carr panicked in the face of Denver's pass rush and shoveled a pass to right tackle Khalif Barnes, who fumbled while attempting to extend the play (which would have been negated by a penalty for illegal touching). Four plays later, Julius Thomas scored a back-breaking touchdown to put Denver ahead, 27-10.
- As you might expect, Derek Carr isn't ready to go toe-to-toe with the great Manning. The rookie saved his stat line with a long touchdown drive in garbage time, but lacked accuracy and tossed two interceptions.
- Justin Tuck has been more active in Subway commercials than on the field this season, but he made his presence felt early with a deflection and interception of Manning in the first half. The athletic play summoned memories of Tuck's glory days in New York. The Raiders expected more of that this season.
- The depth of the Broncos' passing attack is unreal. Julius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders had twotouchdowns apiece. Demaryius Thomas had 11 catches for 108 yards. Wes Welker is barely on the radar in this offense, which tells you a lot.
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