Clough: A ‘great’ Broncos team would have blown out the Raiders

Oct 3, 2017, 12:00 AM Updated: 8:14 am

DENVER, CO - OCTOBER 01: Head coach Vance Joseph of the Denver Broncos is congratulated by head coach Jack Del Rio of the Oakland Raiders after their game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on October 1, 2017 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

A win is a win, especially for a Denver Broncos squad, picked by many to finish among the bottom half of the AFC West, against a tough divisional opponent.

And Denver did just that — again — Sunday, eking out a 16-10 win over the Oakland Raiders.

The victory puts the Broncos squarely in second place in its division, behind just the Kansas City Chiefs at 4-0 and ahead of the Raiders (2-2) and Los Angeles Chargers (0-4), a team Denver beat in similar fashion in its regular season opener on Sept. 11.

But after the game, listening to the Fan Football Postgame could have led people to think the Broncos lost against the Raiders, 104.3 The Fan’s Sandy Clough said on Monday.

“… For major portions of that show, you would have thought that the Broncos had lost to the Raiders and were, in fact, 2-2 heading into their bye week coming up here in Week 5,” Clough said.

After the Broncos first win of the season against the Chargers, Clough theorized that a “championship-contending” team would have won comfortably and a “genuinely bad team” would have blown that game.

“Instead, the Broncos won the game by the skin of their chinny-chin-chins, 24-21,” Clough said Monday.

And, much like that divisional bout, Denver found that middle ground again Sunday against Oakland, Clough said.

“A great team, perhaps a championship-contending team, would have blown out the Raiders (Sunday),” Clough said. “Instead, the Raiders were within 30 yards of pay dirt in the closing seconds.

“Until Justin Simmons intercepted an E.J. Manuel pass, the Raiders had a shot at pulling out an unlikely victory.”

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.