LAS VEGAS — Sean Payton spent the better part of the week extolling the virtues of win No. 9 to his Broncos’ players.
Then the final game of the regular season began and it soon became clear: When motivation must be manufactured, no matter how well it's presented, it doesn't match the inspiration of playing for a playoff stake.
Two big plays by receiver Jerry Jeudy aside, the Broncos got thoroughly outplayed by the Las Vegas Raiders here Sunday and fell 27-14 before an announced crowd of 61,429 at Allegiant Stadium.
“I felt like obviously they ran it better than us,'' Payton said. "They protected better than us. Our quarterback was under a lot more duress than theirs. You can point to a number of things. The 99-yard drive at the end of the half (by the Raiders) was disappointing and not being able to get off the field when we cut it to 10 (in the fourth quarter).
"So I think the mood will be disappointing, not discouraged. But nonetheless you certainly would like to finish on a brighter note than that.”
The Broncos and Raiders both finished with 8-9 records. For the Broncos, the good in 8-9 is it's a three-win improvement from last season's 5-12 mark. The bad is the Broncos have now strung together seven consecutive losing seasons and eight without a playoff berth.
The tiebreaker goes to the Raiders, who beat the Broncos twice this year and eight straight times over the past four seasons. Again there is good -- the Broncos leapfrogged the Raiders in 2024 draft. The Broncos will have the No. 12 overall pick in the first round. Perhaps from there the Broncos will be in striking distance of selecting a quarterback like Heisman Trophy winner Jayden Daniels or NCAA championship game QB Michael Penix Jr.
As benched quarterback Russell Wilson sat dejectly at his locker in full, clean uniform nearly an hour after game, the message was clear: The Broncos once again must address their quarterback position in the offseason.
Jarrett Stidham did fine in his two-game audition for the Broncos. Maybe he can become a bridge starting quarterback as the Broncos groom their first-round quarterback next year -- and they GOTTA take a QB in the first round, don't they? But the bottom line is the Broncos only scored 16 and 14 points in Stidham's two starts. Wilson was benched for less.
"I don't get caught up in that,'' Stidham said. "They see me every day. They know what I can and can't do, what I'm capable of. My job is to work as hard as possible. Be a good teammate and do my job. That's not for me to speak on."
“I thought he hung in there,'' Payton said of Stidham's performance here Sunday. "Had some tough snaps. Got hit quite a bit. I think he had five sacks, (11) quarterback hits. But overall he battled.''
The Broncos only rushed for 48 yards on 2.4 yards per carry. The Raiders rushed for 129 yards on 4.2 yards per.
"We didn't have our best day out there,'' said right tackle Cam Fleming, who in his first start in place of the injured Mike McGlinchey was tasked with blocking the incomparable Maxx Crosby. "It always starts with O-line. If we don't come out swinging at a high level then it's tough to win games.''
Allegiant Stadium was littered with both a fair amount of empty seats and orange-clad Broncos fans, although there were enough Raiders fans to make it a noisy home-favorable environment beneath the enclosed roof structure. The visiting Broncos struggled, especially up front in pass protection.
“I thought we got beat up front,'' Payton said. "I was disappointed how we played up front, I’ll be honest with you. I expected us to be able to run the ball better and we did a lo to help ourselves in protection and yet obviously not enough.”
Not for the first time on the road this season the Broncos played poorly for much of the first quarter. On the first two offensive series, Stidham missed a couple throws. One pass he did put on the money, a deep sideline throw to Courtland Sutton, went through the receiver’s arms.
The Denver defense, meanwhile, gave up a 13-play, 78-yard drive the Raiders finished off late in the first quarter with a busted gadget play that receiver Jakobi Meyers converted into a cross-field, 5-yard touchdown run. It was 7-0 Raiders.
As good quarterbacks do, though, Stidham answered on the Broncos’ third offensive series. He made a big-time throw to receiver Brandon Johnson on a deep crossing route for a 36-yard gain and followed up by hitting running back Javonte Williams across the middle for 12 yards.
Although Crosby, the Raiders’ tenacious defensive end, seemed to thwart the drive with a 12-yard sack – extending his sack streak against the Broncos to 9 consecutive games over the past five years – Stidham rebounded by hitting receiver Jerry Jeudy in the left flat. Jeudy then ran like a man on a mission, cutting away from a couple defenders and breaking a couple tackles to finish off a 24-yard touchdown.
"Yeah, (shoot) last game of the season, we're going to be out, what? Six months. I needed that,'' Jeudy said.
It was 7-7 with 10:34 left in the half.
Broncos final game of the 2023 season
The Raiders came back on their next drive with quarterback Aiden O’Connell connecting with Davante Adams for 17 yards on the first play. It looked like the Denver D came up with a forced fumble and recovery to halt the drive, but the play was overturned upon replay review into an incompletion. Raiders’ kicker Daniel Carlson, of Colorado Springs, then crushed a 49-yard field goal for a 10-7 Raiders lead with 7:09 remaining in the half.
A tremendous, 64-yard punt by Riley Dixon pinned the Raiders back to their 2 yard line with 3:19 left in the half. But Raiders’ running back Zamir White, starting instead of the injured Josh Jacobs, exploded up the middle on a trap play for 25 yards to get the Raiders out of the hole. O’Connell then completed a deep pass to Tre Tucker, whose double move burned veteran cornerback Fabian Moreau, for a 47-yard gain.
O’Connell finished off the 98-yard drive by hitting Davante Adams for a 3-yard touchdown pass with 7 seconds left in the half – nickelback Ja’Quan McMillian had the play well-defended by mistimed his leaping knockdown attempt - and a 17-7 lead.
O’Connell missed some open receivers – and had a pick dropped by Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II -- but still finished an impressive 20 of 31 for 244 yards and two touchdowns (110.1 rating). He left the third quarter for a series with an index finger injury on his right throwing hand -- enough time for Raiders' fans to boo his replacement Jimmy Garoppolo after an incompletion -- but O'Connell returned in time to throw a 33-yard touchdown pass to a ridiculously open Meyers on the first play of the fourth quarter.
It was 24-7 Raiders.
The Broncos kept battling. Stidham hit Jeudy for a 47-yard gain to set up first and goal at the 3. It took a while for Payton to find the right play but on fourth and goal from the 2, he called for a direct snap to running back Javonte Williams, who was lined up in the Wildcat formation, and Williams plowed in behind Quinn Meinerz and the right side of the Broncos' offensive line to make it 24-14 with about 10 minutes remaining.
Jeudy finished with 79 yards receiving off three catches.
"I thought I did what I could with the opportunities I had,'' Jeudy said when asked about how he finished. "I tried to make the most of it."
Soon enough a new league season will begin in mid-March. Two months away. Jeudy has been involved in trade discussions the past two trading periods and his name is certain to come up again this offseason.
"I don't care about any of that,'' Jeudy said. "I know me, I'm a baller. And I'm going to keep on with whatever happens.''
Stidham also missed some open receivers early, and was under siege by the Raiders’ pass rush in the second and third quarters, but made some big throws here and there. He finished 20 of 34 for 272 yards and a touchdown before throwing a final minute interception that sunk his passer rating to 82.0.
"I know I've got to do better, for sure,'' Stidham said. "There's definitely things I could have done to help us move the ball more efficiently. ... Disappointed in the outcome, obviously,"
But after drawing to within 24-14 early in the fourth quarter, the Raiders put together a nearly 8-minute drive against the Denver defense -- which did not finish strong -- before settling for a short Carlson field goal. More importantly, the Raiders left only 2:20 on the clock and the Broncos down two touchdowns.
And so while a three-win improvement is encouraging, a seventh consecutive losing season -- first with Payton as head coach -- is in the books.
"I'm just going to take all the moments from this season and carry it forward,'' said safety Justin Simmons, who has been with the team since 2016, longer than any other player. "I think the biggest thing from this year, there was lot of buy-in. There was a lot of new and I'm proud of the guys ... it does take a lot to buy-in especially for some of the guys who have been here and been through some turnover, it takes a lot to buy-in.
"It wasn't perfect. There were a lot of things that we didn't execute enough from a players' perspective. But for next season I'm really excited. The foundation is kind of set and I think it's going to be something special for next year."
Bronco Bits
Running back Jaleel McLaughlin suffered a concussion in the first half and didn't return. ...
Tight end Nate Adkins suffered a hamstring injury in the first half and didn't return. ...
Sutton returned to play against the Raiders after missing last week's game with a concussion, but didn't look the same. He left in the second half with an ankle injury.
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