It's taken a decade, but the Denver Broncos' fortune has reversed versus the Las Vegas Raiders. With a 29-19 win on Sunday, the Broncos posted their first win in Las Vegas since the team relocated there and their first sweep of their arch-nemesis, the Raiders, since 2014. 

Trailing at halftime and lacking a ground game, the Broncos' come-from-behind win was on the foot of the kicker Will Lutz and the arm of the rookie quarterback Bo Nix. Lutz would have a career day with five field goals and two extra points, accounting for 17 points, more than half of the Broncos' points. Lutz was named AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts.

Lutz converted all five field goal attempts, including two from over 50 yards, and both of his point-after attempts in Denver's win. Lutz led all kickers in Week 12 with 17 points scored and five made field goals. This is the sixth-career Player of the Week award and second this season for Lutz, joining Brandon McManus (Weeks 4 & 6 of the 2020 season) as the only Broncos kickers to win the award multiple times in a season.
  
The balance of the points on the scoreboard came from two touchdown passes from Bo Nix to wide receiver Courtland Sutton, both in the second half. With five games left in the season, Nix furthered his case for Rookie of the Year in the quarterback-laden class of 2024. 

Nix was the sixth quarterback chosen in the draft, 12th overall, yet he led all rookie quarterbacks in 2024 with 21 touchdowns. The closest to him is Jayden Daniels of the Washington Commanders, the No.2 pick, with 14 touchdowns. The Patriots' Drake May comes in third with 10, and the Bears' No. 1 overall pick, Caleb Williams, has 9.

In the Las Vegas win, the Broncos' Nix completed 25-of-42 passes for 273 yards, two touchdowns, and a 94.6 passer rating. Now the frontrunner for all rookie quarterbacks, Nix has five games this season in which he has recorded 200-plus passing yards, two-plus passing touchdowns, and zero interceptions. 

"[We] just never lost that edge," Nix said after the game about trailing the Raiders. "We never lost the faith on the sideline and always kind of figured we were going to find a way to win. That just marks a good team."

Unable to get the ball in the end zone in the first half offensively, the defense kicked off the offense with an interception of Gardner Minshew early in the third quarter. Brandon Jones returned his interception of Minshew 37 yards, putting the offense in position for the first of two Courtland Sutton touchdown catches.

Sutton finished with 97 yards, receiving eight receptions and two touchdowns despite getting only one target in the first half. Nix finished with 25 pass completions with 273 yards and a passer rating of 94.6. He was nominated for NFL Rookie of the Week for the third consecutive week, winning the previous two.

The Broncos' ground game was still stagnant. Starter Javonte Williams had the most carries for the Broncos, with eight touches for minus 2 yards. Nix also registered minus 2 yards, and the Broncos' total rushing for the day was 63 yards, to the Raiders' 69 yards.   

Leading the NFL in sacks going into the game, the Broncos added five more to their total. Minshew received a strip sack by Nik Bonitto and was knocked out of the game on the Broncos' fourth sack. With his sack, Bonitto now has a career-best 10 sacks with five games left to play. In the last 12 quarters of play, the Broncos' defense has only allowed two touchdowns, one to the Raiders and one to the Kansas City Chiefs. 

"[We're] just building off of last year, knowing how we started and just finding ways to keep continuing to get better," Bonitto said. "Finding ways to now win these games with the group that we've had now for two years, it's really special. So, [we've] just got to keep going."

An energized Sean Payton left the field in jubilation after the win. Usually, the head coach was more subdued after a victory, but the uplifted attitude was notable over the weeks past. "I said to [the team] today, 'Our team a year ago didn't win this game. But this team did. You build some grit. We won the turnover battle again. We were the better team today. We didn't always play like it, but we'll get those things cleaned up. I'm talking about what I see with the mental toughness, the grit, the fortitude, and how they work. This is an entirely different team from a year ago. That's no discredit to last year's team. It just is what it is."

With the Broncos at 7-5 and the Chargers at 7-4, Denver is now half a game out of second place in the AFC West with two division games remaining. Of the five remaining games, two will be on National TV. In a nod from the NFL for their improved play, their Sunday, Dec 22nd game was flexed to prime time national TV game for Thursday Night Football on December 19. The other divisional game will be against the Kansas Chiefs in the final game of the regular season on January 5. 

The remaining games are against AFC opponents, including the Cleveland Browns on Monday Night Football to start December and the Indianapolis Colts midway through the month on December 15; both games are at home. The Broncos finished the 2024 season with a 4-1 record over the NFC teams, including a sweep over the NFC South teams, with the New Orleans Saints, the Carolina Panthers, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. 

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Game time for the Monday Night Football Game against the Browns is 6:15 MT on Monday, December 2, 2024. (See the photo Gallery of the Broncos - Raiders game at www.SportsReportNet.com).

From the Sports Report Editor: Let the Thanksgiving holiday bring peace, unity, and healing in these extraordinary times.

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