Broncos Get Buried by Raiders at Home, Fall to 3-3

 The Broncos dropped their third straight game and are now 3-3 after getting buried at home to the Raiders 34-24 on Sunday. Even at 3-3, this season feels like it is starting to go the wrong way fast. It is one thing to lose to the Raiders, but to lose to them a few days after the Raiders had to fire Jon Gruden after troubling emails emerged. It was a really bad loss for the Broncos, and they need to figure it out quick or this season is going to be another disappointing one. Here are my thoughts on the game...

1) The Broncos defense got torched again for the third straight week. They couldn't stop the Raiders and Derek Carr and gave up big plays in the pass game once again. They also look like they quit down the stretch, which is very concerning. 

2) Vic Fangio has to figure out how to get this defense going. This is supposed to be the strength of this team and now it is not playing up to par. They also lost LB Al Johnson to a season-ending injury in the game, so the injuries are starting to pile up on defense too.

3) The offense still isn't good enough and there is plenty of blame to go around. I blame Pat Shurmur for his play calling, Teddy Bridgewater is limited in certain areas-especially on third down, and their offensive line is not playing well. Throw in the injuries to the WR corps and this offense is not a productive unit. They really couldn't do much for most of the first part of the game on Sunday. It is not like the Raiders defense is that good and the Broncos couldn't exploit it at all.

4) This team right now looks like it is a bad team and the season is going downhill. There are some serious concerns on both sides of the ball. You can't let the Raiders come to Denver and beat you up after a week in which the Raiders lost their head coach. That was about as bad as a home loss as you can get.

5) The Broncos fans are tired of watching this team lose for 5 plus years and they are seeing this team fall apart again. At 3-3, the Broncos are in a must-win situation as they head to Cleveland on a short week for a Thursday night game against the Browns. They need to win this to turn this thing around.