Biggest takeaways from Denver Broncos Week 1 loss vs. Raiders

The Denver Broncos open their 2023-2024 regular season with an embarrassing 17-16 loss at home against AFC West rival Las Vegas Raiders. New season, new head coach, but the same exact week 1 result in back-to-back seasons (2022, loss at Seattle 16-17, Hackett at head coach).

Sean Payton's debut as the Denver Broncos head coach ended up with Denver's seventh consecutive loss against the Raiders.

Before going into the takeaways, let's talk about the game itself ...

Sean Payton started his era in Denver with an onside kick, that was recovered by the Broncos, but a penalty caused the Raiders to start their first offensive drive in Denver's 44-yard line.

Vegas had a good opening drive which ended in a Jakobi Meyers 3-yard touchdown. The Broncos started their first offensive drive in their own 14-yard line, due to a Justin Strnad holding penalty during the kickoff return after Meyers' touchdown. Despite starting in their own 14-yard line, Russell Wilson had a huge drive with a couple of big-time third down conversions and finished it with a five-yard touchdown pass to Lil'Jordan Humphrey, who was elevated from the practice squad early in the week, in 2nd and goal. Wilson completed 8 passes in 9 attempts on the first drive. Wil Lutz missed the extra point, so the Broncos were down by one. The Raiders converted a field goal and went up 10-6 in the second quarter. During that drive, Broncos' safety Caden Sterns, got injured, was carted off the field, and did not return. He had a knee injury but no timeline of his injury has been revealed.

The Broncos were on a roll on their second drive. They were in field goal range, but holding and a sack forced them to punt. Riley Dixon's punt was great, Las Vegas started their next drive in their own 5-yard line. The Broncos defense had a good drive and forced Vegas to punt, the Broncos had one last opportunity offensively before halftime. Denver started their drive with 2.30 minutes left in the half and in their own 25-yard line. Once again, the offense had a good drive, which ended in a Courtland Sutton 5-yard touchdown. Wilson had two incompletions in the entire first half (one was a spike to stop the clock).

Denver started the second half with the ball, Russell Wilson fumbled the ball in a scramble run, and Las Vegas recovered, but a Raiders' flag saved the drive. The Broncos could have extended the lead, but Wil Lutz missed a 55-yard field goal try. The Raiders were having a good drive, taking advantage of Lutz's missed field goal, but Kareem Jackson had a red-zone interception after a deflected pass by Alex Singleton on third down and goal.

The Broncos responded with a good drive but were forced to punt. A roughing the kicker penalty by the Raiders kept Denver's offensive drive alive. The Broncos had a third and goal, but Wilson was pressured, and forced to throw the ball away. Denver extended their lead to 16-10 with a field goal. The Raiders had a 75-yard offensive drive following the Broncos' field goal, which ended in a Jakobi Meyers touchdown, with 6 minutes and 34 seconds left in the clock.

The Broncos got the ball back but were forced to punt. They had a three-and-out for the first time in the game. Las Vegas got the clock running and had a 3rd down and seven after the two-minute warning. The Broncos had only one timeout. The Broncos sent pressure, but Jimmy Garoppolo escaped and scrambled to get the first down, and the win for the Raiders.

The Broncos start their season 0-1. With that being said, let's take a look at the key takeaways ...