Raiders’ Mark Davis Meets Broncos’ New Ownership Before Raiders’ 32-23 Win Over Denver Sunday
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By Alan Snel, LVSportsBiz.com Publisher/Writer
Raiders owner Mark Davis enjoyed facetime with new Broncos owner Rob Walton, who was just approved by the NFL’s Lords of Football.
Of the NFL’s billionaire owners, Walton is the richest of them all. Walton and his group bought the Broncos for $4.65 billion — a deal approved by NFL owners in August.
Davis also chatted with Carrie Walton-Penner, Rob Walton’s daughter. Rob is the son of Walmart founder Sam Walton.
In fact, the Broncos president, Damani Leech, and general counsel Tim Aragon joined the Waltons in meeting up with Davis on the Raiders side of the field.
Rob Walton is related to Colorado Avalanche/Los Angeles Rams owner Stan Kroenke through marriage. Kroenke is married to Walton’s cousin, Ann.
And before the game, there was a historic photo: Raiders team president Sandra Douglass Morgan and the Broncos president, Leech.
State of the Game: Raiders’ Josh Jacobs ran 28 times for 143 yards and two touchdowns as Raiders piled up 211 rushing yards and 174 passing yards.
Josh McDaniels on his first coaching win as the Raiders head coach: “Better to talk after a victory than after a defeat.”
McDaniels’ first head coaching job was with the Broncos. But he said today’s win was not necessarily any sweeter except that it was a win over a division rival. McDaniels thanked the Broncos’ former owner, the late Pat Bowlen, for giving him a chance to coach an NFL team at such a young age.
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There were lots of Broncos fans in the Raiders domed stadium today.
The Raiders moved 60 yards after taking the game’s opening kickoff, as a blend of Josh Jacobs runs and Derek Carr tosses to wideout Davante Adams moved the ball into the Red Zone.
But those Red Zone troubles bubbled up again.
The Raiders failed to score a touchdown and, instead, had to settle for a Daniel Carlson field goal.
The Broncos cashed in later in the first quarter.
A terrific punt return gave Denver great field position at the Raiders’ 34 yard line and Broncos QB Russell Wilson connected with Courtland Sutton for a touchdown pass.
After the first quarter, the Broncos led, 7-3.
I loved our effort, I loved our attitude, I loved our toughness and our competitive spirit to try to finish the game. We had opportunities in all three phases to really make some impactful plays there down the stretch, and ultimately, I think the offense did a good job of …. on that long drive. We kind of had the mindset we wanted this to be a physical game and leaned on Josh [Jacobs] and the running game a little bit more than what we have and really established that I thought. Our goal was to try to make it a fourth quarter game, where we had our play count up and we were trying to wear down the defense. — Raiders coach Josh McDaniels
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The Raiders kept on running with Jacobs.
He scored to give Las Vegas a 10-7 in the second quarter.
After the Broncos tied the game with a FG at 10-10, the Raiders defense put six points on the board.
Raiders cornerback Amik Robertson recovered a mid-air fumble and dashed 68 yards in the opposite direction to give Las Vegas a 16-10 lead.
It was a rarity, but Carlson missed the extra point.
The Broncos struck back with a Wilson TD pass. But Denver failed to convert the extra point and there were a pair of 16s on the scoreboard.
The Raiders’ Carr showed some wheels and zipped into field goal range for Carlson, who banged home a three-pointer on the last play of the first half.
Halftime score: Raiders 19 Broncos 16
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To get the game going, Aces head coach Becky Hammon and her crew lit the Al Davis torch. Here’s Hammon with Raiders team president Sandra Douglass Morgan before the game.
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Bad news for the Raiders: Denzel Perryman, the key middle linebacker, suffered a concussion and was out of the game.
Wilson had an outstanding first half with 11 completions of 12 attempts for 149 yards and two touchdowns.
Carr was 12 of 18 for 89 yards passing.
Jacobs ran well and hard, picking up 58 yards on 12 runs, including one for a touchdown.
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Raiders need a win if they want to continue to be in the hunt for a playoff spot. Teams that began 0-4 had a 1 percent chance of making the postseason since 1990. Teams that were 1-3 had a 15 percent chance since 1990.
Maxx Crosby was doing his part to help the Raiders score their first win. He sacked Wilson twice in the third quarter, killing drives.
After a Carlson 30-yarder after the Raiders failed yet again to cash in for seven, Wilson’s long completion set up his TD run.
So with seven minutes to go in the fourth, the Raiders were holding on to a 25-23 lead.
Jacobs ran for another touchdown and a Carlson PAT restored the Raiders’ nine-point lead, 32-23.
And when Mike Boone dropped a Wilson pass on fourth down with less than two minutes left, that clinched the Raiders’ first win.
They now have a 15 percent chance at making the playoffs with a 1-3 record after four games.
The Raiders are off to Kansas City to play the Chiefs next Monday night on Oct. 10.
