3 winners (and 2 losers) for Broncos in Week 5 blowout win vs. Raiders

The Denver Broncos improved to 3-2 after a big win on Sunday afternoon against the Las Vegas Raiders, their first win over the Raiders since 2019 and third straight win this season. Broncos head coach Sean Payton has been the Grim Reaper for some of the Broncos' longest losing streaks in recent years, ending the team's ugly 15-game losing streak to the Chiefs as well as a long road losing streak vs. the Buffalo Bills.

Now, Payton has put a halt to the Broncos' losing ways against the Raiders and hope is slowly being restored to a fan base that has been starved for a playoff team since Super Bowl 50.

It's still extremely early, but the Broncos look much better than a lot of the prognosticators said they were going to be. After the team's latest win against the Raiders, who are the biggest winners and losers? Let's dive in and look back at one of the most satisfying wins in the last eight years for this franchise.

Bo Nix, Pat Surtain II lead Broncos winners vs. Raiders in Week 5

Winner: Pat Surtain II, cornerback

You can't really start with anyone else besides Pat Surtain II here, can you? We're as guilty as anyone of this, but it just doesn't feel like Pat Surtain II always gets his deserved flowers by many who cover the Denver Broncos. Perhaps I'm on an island with that, but you don't often see a lot of coverage for PS2 because he's so great. We just kind of expect it week in and week out.

But when Surtain does something spectacular like we saw against the Raiders, you can't not talk about him.

Surtain's pick-six against the Raiders was more than just a big play. It was game-altering. The Raiders were five yards away from a commanding 17-3 lead and instead, he flipped the script and tied things up at 10 apiece.

It was truly a remarkable play by the Broncos' best player.

Winner: Riley Moss, cornerback

The Denver Broncos traded up to get Riley Moss in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, a move that was not well received by a lot of people, including many in Broncos Country. Moss wasn't a unanimous third-round prospect by the great scouts of NFL Draft Twitter, and therefore he wasn't deemed to be a great prospect by all of the armchair GMs.

As it turns out, Riley Moss is really good at football, and Broncos Country is lucky to have him. The delayed gratification of seeing him emerge here in 2024 has been worth the wait as Moss has emerged opposite Pat Surtain II as the Broncos' other outside corner, and he made a couple of really nice plays on the ball against the Raiders including this gem:

Moss's breakout season has been incredibly exciting and he's already got himself a pair of turnovers he's responsible for (forced fumble vs. Bucs).

Loser: Las Vegas Raiders, team

The Las Vegas Raiders were the biggest loser of this Week 5 matchup against the Denver Broncos. They only scored 18 points while the Broncos scored 34. The Raiders also threw three interceptions, losing the turnover battle.

The Raiders benched starting quarterback Gardner Minshew in the middle of the game and threw Aidan O'Connell out there to see what he could do. And to his credit, O'Connell engineered a touchdown drive after throwing an early interception to Pat Surtain II.

Winner: Bo Nix, quarterback

There's no way you can see Bo Nix as anything other than a huge winner in this game against the Raiders. He threw two touchdown passes and ran for another while protecting the football. Nix has now gone three straight games without a turnover, and it's no wonder that the Broncos are undefeated in those games.

Nix became the first rookie QB in Broncos history to win three straight starts, and he has just shown a tremendous confidence level in recent weeks. Things haven't been perfect, by any means, but Nix has made tremendous strides and has five total touchdowns with zero turnovers in his last three games.

Loser: Greg Dulcich, tight end

It wasn't surprising to see Greg Dulcich inactive against the Las Vegas Raiders, but it was a little surprising to see the team actually do it. Does that even make sense? It's not surprising based on what we've seen from Dulcich, but you kind of just got the impression that the team would continue trying to get the wheels turning here.

Dulcich not only has made no impact in the passing game as a receiver this season, but he was a total liability as a blocker in Week 4 against the Jets as well. That was likely the final nail in the coffin for Sean Payton, and it was Lucas Krull who was activated against the Raiders, not Dulcich. And all of Krull, Adam Trautman, and Nate Adkins had catches with Dulcich in street clothes.

I wouldn't be shocked to see the Broncos shop Dulcich at the 2024 NFL trade deadline. This had to be one of the most disappointing weeks of his professional career: A healthy scratch from the lineup.