Case Keenum leads Denver Broncos' comeback victory over Oakland Raiders
DENVER — Boy, was it hot.
How hot was it? It was almost as hot as Case Keenum gets when his back is to the wall.
After playing poorly while getting blanked in the first half, Keenum rallied the Broncos to 20, second-half points and a 20-19 win against the Oakland Raiders.
Down, 19-17, Keenum hit Tim Patrick with a 26-yard completion in the final seconds. With no timeouts, Patrick appeared to make a bad decision by running inside, but he then cut out and made it to the sidelines at the 18-yard line to stop the clock with 10 seconds remaining. Brandon McManus made a 36-yard field goal to stun the Raiders, who were up all game.
Bad as Broncos football has been at times over the past three years, it would be difficult to find a less inspiring first half than the 30 minutes they played against the Raiders.
Favored by nearly a touchdown going into the game, the Broncos were trailing the Raiders 12-0 at halftime.
Momentum switched in the Broncos' favor thanks to a dropped pass by Raiders' fullback Keith Smith. He dropped it on a fourth-and-1 play in the fourth quarter from the Broncos' 34 and the Raiders leading, 19-10 at the time. Catch the ball in the open — and it hit Smith in his hands — and the Raiders might have been in position to put the game away.
Instead, Keenum followed by leading the Broncos on a touchdown drive, which he finished with a fourth down quarterback sneak for a 1-yard score.
The temperature at kickoff was 92 degrees, making it the hottest home game in Broncos' history. The previous record was 91 degrees, set three times, most recently in September 2010 against Seattle.
Perhaps, realizing they needed to pick it up if they wanted to avoid an upset, the Broncos scored on their opening drive of the second half. A 21-yard pass from Broncos' quarterback Case Keenum to Emmanuel Sanders got the drive started and runs by Phillip Lindsay and Royce Freeman kept it moving.
Freeman capped the drive with a 1-yard touchdown plunge.
The Raiders responded with a far-too-easy, 75-yard touchdown drive that ended with Derek Carr throwing a 20-yard touchdown pass to Seth Roberts.
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It could have been much worse for the Broncos.
Through the first quarter and 3 minutes of the second, the Broncos were thoroughly outplayed. The Raiders had 7 first downs and 124 yards in total offense. The Broncos had three, three-and-outs in their first three possessions.
The Broncos were lucky to only be down 6-0, as for all of Derek Carr’s early stats — 11 of 12 for 90 yards — the Raiders’ quarterback couldn’t stick it in the end zone against Denver’s defense. Veteran placekicker Mike Nugent accounted for the scoring, with field goals of 26 and 46 yards.
The Broncos were in scoring position at the 11-minute mark of the second quarter when rookie tailback Phillip Lindsay shot through the middle, made a cut and raced 53 yards to the Oakland 22.
However, on third down from the Raiders’ 18, a pass by Broncos’ quarterback Case Keenum was intercepted at the 1-yard line by Rashaan Melvin.
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It was Keenum’s fourth interception of the young season. The Raiders tacked on a touchdown late in the first half with Carr and tight end Jared Cook connecting on two, 20-yard plays. Oakland running back Marshawn Lynch finished off the 75-yard drive with a 1-yard, leaping touchdown.
Shaq Barrett blocked the extra point. The Broncos lost right tackle Jared Veldheer to a concussion in the second half.
Mike Klis reports for KUSA 9News in Denver, a TEGNA affiliate.
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