The Raiders‘ 16-10 Week 4 loss was delivered at some point between the pre-game announcement that Michael Crabtree would be unavailable with a chest injury and Derek Carr‘s third-quarter removal.
Carr was removed with just under five minutes left in the third quarter after going down awkwardly, sacked by Shelby Harris and piled on by Derek Wolfe. He had been 10-of-18 for 143 yards and one touchdown, numbers slightly skewed by a 64-yard Juhnny Holton touchdown toss.
Aside from the lone pass play, Oakland (2-2) was dominated by the Denver Broncos defense, which held the Raiders to 24 rushing yards, recorded three sacks and sealed the outcome with a Justin Simmons interception — the game’s only turnover — with just under two minutes remaining.
In relief of Carr, back-up EJ Manuel found some success, going 11-of-17 for 106 yards, but his inability to relay calls to the offense through the thunderous crowd of nearly 77,000 caused a delay of game penalty and forced Jack Del Rio to use up his allotment of second-half timeouts long before a last-ditch drive fell short.
Khalil Mack and the Raider defense kept things interesting, holding the Broncos (3-1) out of the endzone following a touchdown early in the first.
Mack recorded two sacks, giving him three on the season to tie Mario Edwards Jr., who also recorded one in the loss, with three. Mack also nearly created a game-changing play, batting a Trevor Siemian pass into the air late in the third quarter, on the heels of Carr’s injury. A microcosm of Oakland’s afternoon, though, the fluttering pig skin fell into the waiting arms of Denver wide out Emmanuel Sanders. The drive to end in a missed field goal by Brandon McManus, his only miss in four attempts.
Siemian finished the day 16-of-26 for 179 yards and one touchdown, a 22-yarder hauled in by A.J. Derby with one hand. Along with the pass rush, the Oakland secondary, lest Gareon Conley (shin), stood tall following the Derby score. The problem came in the group’s struggle to slow the run — C.J. Anderson’s 95 yards on 20 carries was supplanted by 33 on five totes. An issue magnified by the offense’s lack of any such success.
Marshawn Lynch led the Oakland backfield with 12 yards on nine carries.
Tavecchio continued his perfect season, making his lone extra point as well as his only field goal attempt. Marquette King continued his own strong season, averaging 51 yards per boot.
Like Lynch, Amari Cooper was once again invisible, making two catches for nine yards. He has caught three passes for 15 total yards combined in the last two games — both losses. Lynch has just 30 rushing yards over that period.
The Raiders return to Oakland, after consecutive road games, where they will play each of their next three contests, the first of which coming against the Baltimore Ravens (2-2).
Kalama Hines is SFBay’s sports director and Oakland Raiders beat writer. Follow @SFBay and @HineSight_2020 on Twitter and at SFBay.ca for full coverage of Raiders football.
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