Here's what we know after Denver's Week 10 victory.
The Denver Broncos again snatched victory from the jaws of defeat in Thursday's primetime contest against the Las Vegas Raiders, escaping with a 10-7 conquest at Empower Field at Mile High -- their seventh straight win and eighth overall on the year.
It's hard to win in this league. The Broncos are 8-2, they're leading the AFC West and tied for the best record in the conference. It was a tough, short turnaround after Houston, and the team was obviously gassed. Yet they found a way, again, to overcome. And that's what matters: stacking as many victories as humanly possible.With those excuses and superlatives out of the way, this objectively was a disappointing showing, at least on the offensive side. In certain moments this felt more like a preseason game than a November matchup of division rivals -- on Thursday Night Football at home, to boot. And some of the issues we're seeing from both the players and the coaches have persisted since August.Broncos head coach Sean Payton's playcalling was substandard. The field-position starts were poor, but nothing explains away 37 pass attempts for Bo Nix to only 17 combined runs between JK Dobbins and RJ Harvey, the former of whom averaged a healthy 4.1 yards per carry. Been said before: Payton believes he's the smartest person in the room and has this annoying tendency to outsmart himself in the most puzzling ways ever. In doing so, he tries his hardest to make Nix a "thing" -- that thing being Drew Brees.That aside, Nix turned in one of his poorest games from statistical and eye-test standpoints. He appeared jittery and uncomfortable in the pocket all night, with those pesky feet failing to set on many of his throws. He still misses too many easy completions and even the ones he makes can seem like a struggle for the pass-catcher. You can't criticize Payton and the Broncos offense without criticizing Nix for this performance.Take a second, sign up for our free newsletter, and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily! Nov 6, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix in the fourth quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images / Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn ImagesWinning like this, simply put, isn't sustainable. And if they come out as such against Kansas City, they're going to be 8-3 pretty quickly. Every single person involved -- from Payton to Nix to the receivers and offensive line -- has to be better by significant orders of magnitude. No two ways about it.This game perfectly exemplified why some wanted Denver to acquire WR help at the trade deadline, and why some didn't. You feel like they really need another legitimate weapon, but then you question whether they would use that weapon to its fullest extent. It's quite the depressing quandary.Since the Broncos ultimately didn't land more help, I am fully ready for an uptick in snaps for Pat Bryant. I am also nearing the point where I believe he could be the full-time WR2. Impressive was the level of fight the Raiders showed. Going nowhere this season and overmatched on paper, they battled the Broncos extremely hard. Credit to Pete Carroll and the defense for their game plan.Dre Greenlaw and Talanoa Hufanga are worth Every. Single. Penny. And then some. Hufanga is playing at an All-Pro level this year, in my eyes. Absolute joys to watch each week, and I'm beyond grateful they're wearing orange and blue.I am once again asking the Broncos to remove Tyler Badie from the third-string RB role . ... Please get healthy soon, Patrick Surtain and Marvin Mims.Zack Kelberman is the Senior Editor for Mile High Huddle. He has covered the NFL for more than a decade and the Denver Broncos since 2016. He's also the co-host of the wildly popular Broncos show the Mile High Huddle Podcast.
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