Denver Broncos: 5 Takeaways from the Raiders Win

Phillip Lindsay set an NFL record on Sunday.

Lindsay became the first undrafted player to net 100 scrimmage yards in each of his first two games. Lindsay had 107 yards on 14 carries against the Raiders.  Add that to the 71 rushing and 31 receiving yards the Denver rookie put up against the Seahawks and Phillip’s name is now stamped into the record books.

Like we mentioned after the Seahawks , Lindsay in just two weeks of NFL football has overcome the feel-good story label and is one of the, if not the biggest reason the Broncos sit at 2-0 for the season.

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We saw Royce Freeman get to the edge on a couple of runs and gain yardage (28 yards on 8 carries) but he once again struggled between the tackles, looking indecisive.  His third-and-goal dive attempt came up short, he jumped too early.  All things that will come to the rookie.

We saw some decent work from Tim Patrick and rookie Courtland Sutton, though the latter was victimized by a blatant pass interference call that cost him a beautiful sideline grab and an overturned touchdown that very well could be a bad call.  It’s too hard on the video to see if his foot catches the line. Patrick’s late-fourth quarter, 26-yard romp put the Broncos into easy field-goal position.

Emmanuel Sanders had four catches for 96 yards and Jake Butt saw his first significant contribution grabbing four for 48 yards.  Of concern once again Demaryius Thomas had a couple of drops, none more costly than the one at the first-down marker on the final drive. Thomas has developed a bit of a reputation for drops over the years and it was on full display Sunday.

Case Keenum shook off a bad goal-line interception and unproductive first half to bring the Broncos back from the brink of a disheartening loss.  While the Broncos fine tune with all of the new pieces, it looks like Keenum’s leadership will shine through his mistakes.  Yes, the interception was bad but the second-half and particularly the final drive are more important to Keenum’s evaluation.  He also endeared himself to fans and I’m sure players with a pair of no-slide runs.  One to keep the chains moving, the other on a fourth-and-goal, to give the Broncos an opportunity to win.

On the defensive side, there were some highs and lows: