DENVER — The 8-2 Denver Broncos stand alone atop the NFL with the best record after their victory over the Las Vegas Raiders.

On the defensive side, it was a masterclass. On the offensive side, it wasn’t pretty. But the Broncos got the win. Here’s what stood out throughout the game.

Throwback to the Orange Crush

Donning the best uniforms in the NFL, Denver’s defense performed like the historic Orange Crush defense. And made history of their own.

In the first half, Denver’s five sacks put them at 45 sacks on the season. That marked the most by any team in the NFL through the first 10 games of a season since 1990.

Sacks came from Talanoa Hufanga, Nik Bonitto, Enyi Uwazurike, Zach Allen and Malcolm Roach. All just in the first half.

Hufanga’s sack not only forced a turnover on downs, it gave Denver’s offense their best field position of the day. That led to Bo Nix‘s first touchdown on the day.

But the play of the game on the defensive side came from Dondrea Tillman. Not only did he pick off Geno Smith, he took off down the field to get Denver in field goal position. However, Denver’s offense went backward and had to punt.

Denver’s defense was the reason they won the game. Hands down.

Slow start Broncos

To no one’s surprise, the Broncos got off to a slow start against the Raiders. Shocker.

The Raiders had more points (7) than the Broncos had yards (6) in the first quarter. Denver’s offense didn’t have a first down in the first quarter.

But this wasn’t anything new for the Broncos. Thursday marked the ninth time the Broncos’ opponents scored before they did in a game. Only once have the Broncos got on the board before their opponent. The only other team with that trend is the 1-8 New Orleans Saints.

The Broncos started the game with four-straight three and outs. Sean Payton‘s first first down of the game came with less than six minutes left in the second quarter. The very next play, Adam Trautman was called for holding.

Four plays later, however, Bo Nix hit Troy Franklin for a touchdown to tie the game up.

Sack Allen

Entering Week 10, Zach Allen had established himself as the best interior pass rusher in the NFL. Among interior defensive lineman, No. 99 led the NFL in pressures (35) and sacks (5) while leading the entire league, not just interior defensive lineman, in quarterback hits with 25.

On Thursday Night Football, Allen picked up right where he left off. On the Raiders first series, Allen sacked Geno Smith on third down to not just force fourth down, but it knocked them out of field goal range. Saved three points.

On the next drive, Allen had a batted pass at the line of scrimmage to force a third and long.

Special teams… special?

Jeremy Crawshaw looked like a rookie punter on Thursday. Crawshaw had multiple punts he wished he had back, including a 36 yard punt, a 38 yarder and a 30 yarder. Additionally, he had a net punt of 19 yards.

But one of the biggest plays of the game came from Denver’s punt block unit.

In the third quarter, JL Skinner took a punt off the facemask to give the Broncos the ball at the Raiders 12-yard line. That led the the go-ahead field goal and gave the Broncos the 10-7 lead.

That was the Broncos’ first blocked punt since 2018. It came at the perfect time.