Looking back at the Las Vegas Raiders' ugly 34-18 loss to the Denver Broncos

And the winning streak ended. Emphatically, then.

Forget the curtain call, the Denver Broncos provided the visiting Las Vegas Raiders with a Surtain call when elite cornerback Pat Surtain II intercepted an errant pass from Gardner Minshew in the second quarter and sprinted 100 yards to the pick six with the takeaway, to flip the script in the AFC West matchup.

What should have been a commanding, if not easy, 17-3 lead – rookie tight end Brock Bowers goes into the end zone when Minshew's pass was on target instead of flying over his head, where even a six-footer Goal would have difficulty catching it it was a 10-10 draw. And from that point on, Denver gained momentum and Las Vegas collapsed like a degenerate gambler in the countless casinos on the Strip.

How bad was it?

Denver scored 24 unanswered points before Las Vegas mounted a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that culminated with running back Ameer Abdullah's three-yard run and fellow running back Alexander Mattison's two-point run, 4:01 before the end of the game.

The Silver & Black's eight-game winning streak ended as the Broncos (3-2 overall) galloped past the Raiders (2-3) 34-18 on Sunday afternoon.

“We knew there would be one or two plays in the game that wouldn’t go our way. “Obviously that’s what happened,” Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce lamented during the postgame press conference. “Ultimately we came back here at halftime, it was a 10-13 ball game. We had to keep playing and we just didn't play enough. Obviously penalties and ball losses cost us our lives.”

Much emphasis was placed on Pierce's football team playing clean football and avoiding penalties, but in Denver his Raiders imploded. In total, Las Vegas recorded 11 violations totaling 79 yards. And the turnovers – all three were interceptions – were just as atrocious as the Raiders' overall performance.

Minshew's miss against Surtain was the first of his interceptions, while Broncos cornerback Riley Moss made a jump pick to offset the Raiders starter's two turnovers.

Then, two Las Vegas drives later, backup Aidan O'Connell – who came on after Minshew was pulled for his second interception – threw a pick of his own when his pass to Bowers deflected into the hands of Denver's top player. Flight cornerback.

Just four plays later, Denver turned that takeaway into an end zone visit that produced the 34 points the Broncos dropped against the listless Raiders.

Pierce puts a lot of emphasis on returning to the old-fashioned Silver & Black roots and watching the team erode after the 100-yard interception return was indeed a setback for the old Raiders teams. These are the teams that were unable to recover from a drastic turn of events and showed little to no determination or perseverance to get through the difficult times. There are plenty of Silver and Black teams that go quietly into the night and we saw another prime example in this one-sided defeat.

“Of course no one wants to lose, but we have to find ways to win. That’s really all that matters,” Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby said after the game. “Very emotional, big win last week and we had a tough loss today. So, back to the drawing board: Get one percent better in every way every day. That’s what we’re going to do.”

At that point, that drawing board — usually erased and written on multiple times — could reach legendary status, like the overhead projector the late great Al Davis used back in the day when he fired Lane Kiffin as his Raiders' head coach. Not only does this division loss hurt, Las Vegas is also dealing with the Davante Adams situation.

Let's hit the quick slants as quickly as Surtain effortlessly intercepts the pass and sprints into the end zone with his pick six:

—Bowers scored the first touchdown of his career when he took a Minshew pass 57 yards to the house on the Raiders' first drive of the afternoon. Credit to wide receiver Tre Tucker for holding off Surtain in pursuit. The rookie led the team with 12 targets, catching eight of them for 97 yards and a score.

– Crosby returned to action after missing Week 4 and recorded two sacks to complete a total of three tackles (all solo). Crosby displayed the frenetic energy and relentlessness that make him a terror to opposing offensive coordinators. During the game, he even made a pretty good suggestion to Broncos' rookie quarterback Bo Nix.

– But it's Nix who would have the last laugh. Denver's rookie signal-caller went an efficient 19 of 27 for 206 yards with two touchdowns and zero interceptions. This was after he fought and led a suppressed offensive. The Raiders seem like the right match for the opponents, don't they?

– Minshew finished 12 of 17 for 137 yards with one touchdown pass and two interceptions before being pulled. O'Connell finished 10 of 20 for 94 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. It will be interesting to see if Minshew retains his status as a starter or if the Raiders consider a move?

– Raiders defensive tackle Christian Wilkins had a good game with one sack, five total tackles (four solo) with two tackles for loss. But fellow defensive tackle Adam Butler joined him in celebrating Wilkins' release, and the highly paid interior defender didn't play another snap because of what the team classified as a foot injury.

– The story on the tape shows the Raiders offense gained 330 total yards against the Broncos' strong defense. Meanwhile, Las Vegas' defense limited Denver's offense to 289 total yards. But it's the Broncos' performance in the red zone — four trips, three touchdowns — that made the difference.

Note quote:

“I thought we got off to a good start, but then I killed our momentum with a pick-six. And ultimately I didn't do it well enough to give us a chance to be competitive in the game. So at the end of the day it’s up to me.” – Gardner Minshew, Las Vegas Raiders quarterback