4 winners (and 4 losers) from Broncos' ugly win vs. Raiders in Week 10

It wasn't the stat-padding dominant win every Denver Broncos fan hoped for, but a win is a win. The Broncos beat the Las Vegas Raiders to kick off Week 10 of the NFL season, and they did it by a score of 10-7.

As always, win or lose, there are winners and losers within the game. The Broncos may not have put many highlight-worthy plays out there offensively in this one, but they've given us all a lot to talk about.

Who were the biggest winners and losers from the victory against the Raiders? What all has to be corrected before the Broncos take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 11?

Bo Nix, Jeremy Crawshaw lead biggest "losers" from Broncos win vs. Raiders

Broncos winner: Nik Bonitto, EDGE

You could really give a game ball to the entire Denver Broncos' defensive front in this one. After the Raiders started with such great field position on multiple drives in this game, scoring first and putting 7 on the board, it felt like they might have had a little something cooking on the ground with Ashton Jeanty. The Broncos' defensive front, led by Nik Bonitto, shut that down real quick.

Bonitto had 1.5 sacks, 3 QB hits, a handful of pressures, and he forced Geno Smith to commit an intentional grounding penalty at a crucial point in the game.

Eight pressures from Bonitto was much more in line with what we'd gotten used to seeing before he went three games without a sack. Now, he's up to 9.5 sacks on the season and looked like a Defensive Player of the Year candidate out there once again.

Broncos loser: Bo Nix, quarterback

From play calling to play sequencing, dropped passes and inaccurate throws, there are a lot of dirty hands for the inconsistent offensive operation of the Broncos right now. It feels like Bo Nix has had a tough month or so, but it's obviously been masked by the fact that he's played incredible in the 4th quarter when the Broncos have needed him the most.

Although style points don't matter in the NFL, the Thursday night game against the Raiders felt like a chance for Nix to flex how comfortable he is in the offense, and that the offensive struggles against the Texans were more due to Houston's defense being #1 in the NFL.

That did not happen.

Nix's outing against the Raiders was one of the worst we've seen from him. And even though the Raiders deserve credit for the way they played defensively, Nix's missed throws in this game were frustrating to watch. He had a pair of interceptions and just wasn't accurate enough. It really feels like he's in a bit of a rut these days, and you can tell with the way that he's playing that his confidence is a bit shaken right now.

He has to bounce back against the Chiefs.

Broncos winner: Dondrea Tillman, EDGE

If you've been watching closely the last handful of weeks, you'd notice that outside linebacker Dondrea Tillman has really turned things up a notch with his pass rush. What everyone is seeing very clearly, however, is the playmaking ability of Tillman with the ball in his hands.

Tillman has now gotten a couple of opportunities this season to make a play after picking off a pass, and he's been so good with the ball in his hands that folks are wondering if he should get a shot on offense.

One of Tillman's rushes in this game led to a sack by Malcolm Roach, and then he made the play off the tipped pass for the interception. Tillman had a quiet start to the year, but he's been phenomenal as of late.

Broncos loser: Jeremy Crawshaw, punter

After a number of games where he played a pivotal role in the Broncos winning the field position battle, it looked like Jeremy Crawshaw was battling the "yips" out there against the Raiders.

While Raiders punter AJ Cole pinned the Broncos deep on multiple occasions in the first half, Crawshaw was gifting Vegas with great field position. Obviously, the Broncos had the last laugh as Crawshaw was able to straighten a couple of them out with Cole having one blocked, but this was a night to forget for Crawshaw.

And he will have to forget it. The last thing you want is for a specialist to be in their own head about an off night. Crawshaw has been good this season for the Broncos, although we'd all like to be seeing less of him out on the field (unless it's to hold for PATs).

Broncos winner: Talanoa Hufanga, safety

To say that Talanoa Hufanga has been an impact addition to the Denver Broncos' defense would be a gross understatement. He's been one of the best offseason pickups in the entire league.

Hufanga is a tone setter for the Denver Broncos' defense, and he made one of the biggest plays of the game against the Raiders. On a 4th-and-5, the Raiders kept the offense on the field and Hufanga timed a blitz perfectly to sack Geno Smith and set up the Denver offense with great field position.

And it resulted in the lone touchdown of the game for Denver's offense.

Hufanga set up that touchdown drive with his huge play and he led the team with nine tackles in total.

Broncos loser: Darren Rizzi/special teams

Ironically, a huge special teams play was arguably the single difference in this game. JL Skinner's blocked punt, however, does not mask the horrendous disadvantage the special teams was for the Broncos against the Raiders.

The Broncos were consistently buried on their own side of the field, while the Raiders were seemingly starting every drive around midfield. At some point, Darren Rizzi is going to have to figure out how to fix what's been broken on special teams for the Broncos.

The punter struggled, Wil Lutz missed a long kick, and the Broncos weren't good enough on kickoff returns. The Raiders had a better plan in this phase of the game, and Denver once again lost the "hidden yardage" battle Sean Payton has referenced.

Broncos loser: Penalties

The Broncos were called for 11 penalties against the Raiders, and the only saving grace there is that the Raiders were also called for 11. The Broncos have been the worst team in the league this year in this department, and it was once again incredibly frustrating on Thursday night.

In this matchup, however, the primary culprit was the offense. We've gotten used to seeing the defense get called for some questionable penalties, but it was the offense that couldn't get out of its own way and kept going backwards in Week 10.

Having 11 penalties for 78 yards while not giving the opponent a single first down via penalty is indicative of just how sloppy the offensive operation was for the Broncos in this one.

Broncos winner: Zach Allen, DL

Zach Allen is just playing like a man possessed these days. He had another three quarterback hits against the Raiders, along with a sack and another batted ball at the line of scrimmage.

Allen is doing his part each week, giving the Broncos a dominant force on the interior who can collapse the pocket and make big plays in clutch moments. He's come up so huge the last two games against the Raiders and Texans, proving he's one of the most underrated, under-appreciated, yet dominant players in the league at his position.