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 This time cornerback Chris Harris Jr. returned an interception 74
yards for a touchdown with 6:53 left to play, leading the Broncos to
a 16-10 victory against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday at the O.co
Coliseum.
"Everybody's itching to make that play," Harris said. "It just
happened to be my day. I made it today. Next week it will be
somebody else. You never know who it's going to be, but we've got a
team full of play-makers on defense. If we got to win on D, we feel
we can do it."
The Broncos' offense continued to struggle and didn't score a single
touchdown, but Harris finally got Denver into the end zone.
On third-and-5 from the Broncos' 31, Denver had an all-out blitz,
and Raiders quarterback Derek Carr tried to hit wide receiver Seth
Roberts over the middle on a slant but threw behind him. Harris
knifed in for the interception and raced untouched into the end
zone, extending Denver's 9-7 lead to 16-7.
"The great thing about our back end, when they get their hands on
the ball they make plays, catching it, those kinds of things,"
Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said. "Chris did it all week. He had about
three or four picks in practice throughout the course of the week
and then he makes a play like that."
Sebastian Janikowski drilled a 50-yard field goal -- on first-and-10
from the Broncos 32 -- with 1:40 left, cutting Denver's lead to six
points. The Raiders attempted an onside kick, but Denver recovered.
Denver (5-0) beat the Raiders (2-3) for the eighth straight time.
The Broncos won their 14th straight AFC West road game, an ongoing
NFL record for divisional road victories.
Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning threw for 266 yards with two
interceptions and defeated the Raiders for the 10th straight time,
tying his career high for victories against an opponent. He's also
defeated Kansas City 10 straight times. Denver wide receiver
Emmanuel Sanders caught nine passes for 111 yards.
"It's a good win anytime when you win on the road in the division,"
Manning said. "Obviously, when you break it down offensively,
defensively -- we didn't do what we needed to do offensively. Got to
do a better job."
Raiders free safety Charles Woodson had his 63rd and 64th career
interceptions -- his first two against Manning. He picked off a
Manning pass late in the first half in the end zone and another one
late in the third quarter at the Raiders' 37. He moved into a tie
for sixth on the NFL's all-time interception list with Ed Reed.
Woodson, Manning and Indianapolis Colts backup quarterback Matt
Hasselbeck are the last active players from the 1998 NFL draft.
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"I really don't even want to talk about the interceptions just
because of the fact that we did lose the game," Woodson said. "I
knew it was a big deal all week about that aspect of it but it's
never about that. Those things are the shiny things, the shiny toys
that you like, but it's about wins and losses. Our mission is to win
our division and the only way we can do that is to beat the team
that's won it the last few years. Today we dropped the ball on
that."
The Broncos' defense held the Raiders to 288 yards and one
touchdown. They picked off two passes, forced a fumble and sacked
Carr four times, giving them 22 sacks for the season.
"Just how the first five games have been," Harris said. "Been able
to win on defense. Offense, they're going to get started clicking."
The Raiders have lost two straight games, by two points to Chicago
and now six points to Denver.
"It's really hard because we feel like we left something on the
field," said Carr, who passed for 249 yards and one touchdown. "We
feel like we left wins out there."
The Raiders built a 7-3 halftime lead, but Denver cut it to 7-6 on
Brandon McManus' 20-yard field goal with 11:25 left in the third
quarter. Broncos outside linebacker Von Miller set up the field with
a strip-sack of Carr, recovering the fumble at Oakland's 16.
Denver took its first lead of the game with 6:29 remaining in the
third when McManus hit a 52-yard field goal, making it 9-7 Broncos.
The Raiders had a chance to retake the lead early in the fourth
quarter after Woodson's second interception, but Janikowski missed a
40-yard field goal. Janikowski had an opportunity to give Oakland an
early lead, but Broncos defensive tackle Sylvester Williams blocked
his 38-yard field goal attempt midway through the first quarter.
McManus gave Denver a 3-0 lead with 14:19 left in the first half,
drilling a 25-yard field goal. The Raiders answered Carr's
three-yard TD pass to fullback Marcel Reece with 9:37 remaining in
the half.
NOTES: Broncos DE DeMarcus Ware sustained a back injury in the
second quarter and did not return. Ware had an NFL-high 4 1/2 sacks
going into the game. ... Raiders DE Justin Tuck suffered a shoulder
injury in the fourth quarter and did not return. ... Raiders K
Sebastian Janikowski played his franchise record 241st career game,
passing WR Tim Brown. ... Broncos starting LT Ty Sambrailo
(shoulder) missed his second straight game. ... Raiders DB TJ Carrie
(chest), who had been ruled out Friday then upgraded to questionable
Saturday, started against Denver.
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