For Broncos like Garett Bolles, being 0-for-Las Vegas isn’t on their minds

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Almost all of these Denver Broncos didn’t start the franchise’s fire of failure against the Raiders.

In fact, just two Broncos who played in the Nov. 15, 2020 game that began of Las Vegas’ eight-game winning streak in the series remain on the team. And only 19 of the 78 players on the Broncos’ current total roster — including active roster, injured reserve, practice squad and physically-unable-to-perform list — were on the team just two years ago when it went to Sin City in Week 4 and lost.

For a player like tight end Adam Trautman — who only experienced last season’s Broncos losses to the Silver and Black — there is an understanding of what the series means, but an understanding that the team can’t become burdened by the weight of losses that, for a significant chunk of players, weren’t theirs to own.

The streak hasn’t stopped yet, but for most of the team, the degree of its length is largely inherited.

“Yeah, I mean, obviously you want to do it for the fan base and everything because it’s a rivalry,” Trautman said. ” It’s in division and everything, but it ends if you just win.

“So obviously, we’re just focused on beating them.

“It’s not like, say, anything crazy, but it is a division game, so obviously it does mean a little more, and it just happens that we haven’t won, like you said, eight games. So, yeah, we’re just focused on winning this week.”

BUT EVEN LONG-TIME BRONCOS ARE KEEPING THINGS IN THE PROPER CONTEXT

Take Garett Bolles, for example. The starting left tackle is one of just two players left from the team that walked into an empty Allegiant Stadium midway through the pandemic-altered 2020 campaign and left with the first — and perhaps ugliest — of the defeats during the 8-game skein around their necks, a turnover-strewn 37-12 loss that saw Las Vegas walk all over the struggling Broncos.

“We’re going to have to get the job done. But I don’t really pay attention to how many times we’ve lost or how many times they’ve beaten us,” Bolles said.

“I mean, obviously you want to win every single game, but that just doesn’t happen in this league. So we just gotta focus on little things and that’s that.”

Garett Bolles, on facing a Raiders team with 8 straight wins over the Broncos: "I don't really pay attention to how many times we've lost or how many times they've beaten us. I mean, obviously you want to win every single game, but that just doesn't happen in this league. So we… pic.twitter.com/O2qRRXy1IF

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 3, 2024

IT’S ALL ABOUT IT BEING A DIVISION GAME

Broncos coach Sean Payton knew the topic of the skid would arise Wednesday, even though only two of the eight defeats since the Raiders moved to Las Vegas were on his watch.

“Fair question,” he said.

But his focus was on the Raiders’ status as an AFC West foe, not their recent mastery of the Broncos in the series.

“Look, it’s a division opponent. This is our first chance to play a division opponent,” Payton said. “Last year we finished 3-3 in the division. I can’t recall a team that has accomplished anything worthwhile finishing .500 in your division, and then you take a team like Las Vegas.”

Indeed, the last time the Broncos finished above .500 in AFC West play, it was 2015. They won Super Bowl 50 that year. Since then, they’ve had 6 losing seasons against their AFC West foes and only nudged toward .500 in 2019 and last year. And as it turned out, the eighth-straight loss in the series — in Week 17 — prevented Denver from its first winning season in seven years.

Sean Payton, when the Broncos' 8-game losing streak to the Raiders is brought up: "Fair question. Look, it's a division opponent. This is our first chance to play a division opponent. Last year we finished 3-3 in the division. I can't recall a team that has accomplished anything… pic.twitter.com/WBKE3QdqU6

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) October 3, 2024

“There’s a long, storied history, and certainly I appreciate that — especially with our fans. And so, it’s our job to play our best football this Sunday and get ready to play.”

But against the Raiders, the Broncos often haven’t played their best. Even before the Raiders’ move to the Mojave Desert kicked off their winning streak in the series, the Broncos hadn’t swept the Raiders in five seasons. The then-Oakland Raiders’ 15-12 stunner over the Lombardi Trophy-bound Broncos on Dec. 13, 2015 started a run in which the teams split the series for five-consecutive years before the Raiders got on a roll after their relocation.

Denver went 7-0 against the Raiders with Peyton Manning at quarterback, part of an 8-game Denver winning streak that began during the run of 6-straight wins with Tim Tebow at quarterback in 2011. The December 2015 loss — with Brock Osweiler starting — knocked the Broncos from their pedestal.

Then, finally, in 2020, they tumbled to the ground entirely. The Broncos are still trying to get back up, but this week, they have a perfect chance to find their footing against a nemesis.

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