Throughout the entire 2020-21 season, DNVR will be giving you game grades from every Denver Broncos contest, evaluating all the starters and beyond to give you a better look at the team’s strengths and weaknesses on a game-by-game basis.

The Las Vegas Raiders looked very similar to the Denver Broncos in scheme and disposition but entirely different in execution, depth and talent on Sunday. As bad as the 37-12 beatdown was, it could’ve been even worse if not for some missed opportunities by the Raiders in the red zone and a couple of dropped touchdowns to boot.

With all that in mind, here’s who fought until the very end, who looked outmatched, and everyone in between.

Standouts 

Bryce Callahan: A-

Getting targeted five times and only allowing three receptions for 9 yards, Callahan was incredibly impressive. He stood stride for stride with Henry Ruggs and made two incredible plays on the ball down the sideline.

Playing all but two defensive snaps, Callahan was damn near perfect. Aside from a missed tackle out on the perimeter, and getting burned down the sideline by Darren Waller on what should’ve been a 55-yard touchdown if not for the tight end’s brutal drop, Callahan was consistently money on Sunday.

In the end, his two errors didn’t cost the Broncos in a major way, but they could have — and they certainly impacted his final grade.

Garett Bolles: B+

No one did a good job run blocking on Sunday but Bolles avoided negative plays and held up his end of the bargain when tasked with winning one-on-one matchups. His only glaring mistake was a false start penalty — which is bound to happen every now and then.

Additionally, the Raiders might not have a great pass rusher on their roster but Bolles essentially eliminated former top-10 pick Clelin Ferrell for most of the game. The fact that these kinds of performances are becoming mundane for Bolles goes to show the growth he’s made in 2020.

Melvin Gordon: B+

Gordon made the most of his opportunities, regularly breaking three-plus tackles just to generate a six-yard run, as the offensive line gave him very little help in the matchup. Not much went well for the offense against Las Vegas but Gordon ran with his head on fire, showing great contact balance and power in what was quietly his best game of the season. Hopefully he can build off of it down the stretch as Denver tries to figure out its passing identity.

DeMarcus Walker: B-

Walker appeared in 61 percent of the defensive snaps and did a good job holding up against the run, including overcoming a hold on 4th-and-1 to get a key stop. He also had a few flashes rushing the passer and drew yet another holding penalty on an inside pressure.

Like most members of the defense, he was running on fumes by the end of the game and got pushed around defending the run — but Walker played well overall — even with an offsides penalty.

Defense

DeShawn Williams: B-

Williams played a really tough game in all phases. He held up against double teams and managed to create penetration up the middle against the run. But he also flashed the ability to disrupt the pocket up the middle with a rare QB hurry.

He too struggled to defend the run by the end of the game, but his effort was key in keeping the game close through the first three quarters.

Dre’Mont Jones: C

Jones actually held up pretty well against the Raiders running game — all be it against a patchwork offensive line. With 1.5 run stuffs and five tackles, Jones consistently made his presence felt against the run. His impact getting after the passer was lacking on the other hand. They need him to be more consistent in both phases moving forward, especially with the Broncos missing the pass rushing abilities of Von Miller on the outside.

Bradley Chubb: D

Chubb hurt the Broncos with his defense on the edge, far too often getting blocked out of the picture by tight ends and opening major running lanes outside. He struggled to get much pressure on Derek Carr beyond one hurry; and even his tackle for a loss came on a busted screen.

His only saving grace was that he seemed to get held a lot — and even so, he wasn’t ever given the benefit of a friendly whistle.

Alexander Johnson: C-

Johnson was active as a thumper against the run, producing four run stuffs in a losing effort — though some of those came as the Raiders kept pounding the rock and Denver stayed in heavier base sets.

The problem is that while Johnson made some plays in the run game, he also whiffed on two key tackles that let Devonte Booker through on both of his touchdown runs.

Allowing two catches for 15 yards in coverage, his impact as a pass defender was limited without many blitzes getting through.

Josey Jewell: D

Jewell was a liability defending the run, consistently getting blocked out of the play at the second level. His lack of strength or speed were exposed as he was unable to blow up blocks or beat linemen to their spots. From Jacobs’ opening touchdown on, his run defense was lacking and he didn’t look particularly quick in coverage either.

Malik Reed: C

Reed fought hard defending the run out on the edge, especially with a pair of early run stuffs and a rare pressure on Carr.

He had his mistakes as well — with a bad holding penalty in coverage, nullifying a Dre’Mont Jones sack, and another offsides penalty. There were definitely flashes from Reed, though.

A.J. Bouye: C

Bouye was picked on in coverage early but held up enough on a day where he was targeted five times, allowing four receptions for 48 yards. He played tough, especially in the red zone and didn’t shy away from tackling, even getting trucked by Jacobs but still holding on by the ankles for a desperate tackle.

Kareem Jackson: C

Jackson was around the ball a lot, especially on loaded boxes as the Raiders ran out the clock late. He had his splash plays but nothing that impacted the outcome of the game one way or another.

Justin Simmons: C+

The secondary was bailed out by some drops and that included Simmons who let Nelson Agholor right by for a close to wide-open touchdown that the Raiders weren’t able to haul in.  Simmons played tough otherwise, allowing just two receptions for seven yards and even getting a run stuff.

Other noteworthy defensive performances

Sylvester Williams and McTelving Agim had very similar games, showing early struggles defending the run. Sly picked it up a bit, while Agim continued to struggle beyond a couple nice flashes penetrating the line.

Jeremiah Attaochu did have a QB hurry off the edge but was basically absent the other 28 snaps he played.

Essang Bassey was thrown to the fire and didn’t get burned on any big plays but also looked a bit tentative while playing closer to the line as the nickel back. He allowed three receptions for 29 yards on four targets.

Offense

Dalton Risner: C+

Risner had a clean game. He wasn’t overpowering, or all that impressive opening holes for the run or blocking on the move on pulls but did his job in pass protection. He did allow a run stop but wasn’t a liability.

Lloyd Cushenberry III: F

Cushenberry was getting rocked into the backfield regularly, struggling to hold his ground or generate push as a run blocker. Giving up one tackle for a loss, he had countless other instances where his struggles led to Gordon getting hit in the backfield and having to improvise from there.

The rookie center was just as bad in pass protection.

Graham Glasgow: C

It was good to have Glasgow back who, beyond a run stop allowed and false start penalty, wasn’t a liability against a fairly pedestrian Raiders’ line.

Calvin Anderson: F

Anderson looked like a fifth stringer, getting manhandled in all phases all game long and having to be bailed out by Lock scrambling or running backs breaking tackles. He whiffed on blocks, didn’t move particularly well, and looked off-balance pass protecting in a pretty horrific showing.

Jerry Jeudy: C+

Jeudy made some nice plays, with an early stretched out grab in traffic on a laser from Lock standing out above all. He struggled to get on the same page with his QB, whose accuracy was all over and didn’t always take advantage of Jeudy working his way open.

Jeudy showed incredibly poor awareness running out of bounds on what should’ve been an easy two-point conversion but was fine otherwise.

Tim Patrick: F

Patrick had his moments and got open more often than his final numbers would suggest but the punch that got him expelled was inexcusable.

K.J. Hamler: C+

Hamler had some nice flashes making tough grabs on the move, adjusting to far from perfect ball placement, and shaking free to convert an early third down. Slowly becoming a reliable weapon and finding ways to get open consistently.

Noah Fant: D

Fant started the game off poorly with a screen that seemed set up nicely and saw him run the other way for no gain. The former first-rounder didn’t turn around fast enough on what looked like a hot route where he needed to anticipate an early throw and in general, struggled to make the most of his seven targets.

On top of that, his holding penalty on Lock’s touchdown run to end the first half was a game-changing mistake.

Drew Lock: D

Lock’s game will be defined by four bad interceptions that are emblematic of how Denver’s quarterback is putting everything on his shoulders and trying to do way too much, particularly under pressure.

Lock continues to miss easy short throws and has remained woefully inconsistent as he keeps attempting incredibly tough off-balance passes. We also saw him lock his eyes on his primary targets a lot this game, which played into some of the forced passes we saw on the day.

He also showed incredible toughness as we now know he was dealing with a rib injury and was hit cleanly by unblocked defenders far too often. The blame shouldn’t fall all on him but he certainly played his part in the Broncos big loss.

Other noteworthy defensive performances

DaeSean Hamilton had a tough break on his fumble which turned out to be a back-breaking turnover for the Broncos and though he made some decent catches underneath from there on, his opportunity to shine was largely wasted with that turnover.

Special Teams: D

Both the kick and punt teams had massive issues on Sunday to start the game, as the Broncos were stuck in their own 10 on three of their first four drives. As we analyze the winning and losing performances from the game, you can put the early contributions from the special teams unit in the losing column.

Coaching: D

For the coaching grade, you don’t have to do much more than look across the field where the Raiders similarly depleted offensive line held up very nicely with offensive line coach Tom Camble deservedly getting the praise that his counterparts in Denver haven’t earned.

Vic Fangio‘s defense had its moments but was also bailed out, while the head coach made a puzzling decision to accept a 4th-and-1 holding penalty, allowing the Raiders to punt rather than force a turnover on downs.

While Pat Shurmur‘s offense continued to struggle mightily picking up the blitz, as all opposing defenses need to do to generate pressure on this offense is send an overload blitz to one side as they know Denver’s offense won’t be able to handle it.

Denver’s offense is only functional in two-minute, backyard-football situations and while a lot of that is on the execution by the players it’s also quite the indictment on Shurmur’s play-calling that his players are better off improvising than executing the plays they’ve drilled all week.