The Lead
The Broncos sit at 3-7 after falling to the Raiders in overtime, but the team will have to find a way to rally as they approach the final seven games of the season.
Whether or not a playoff push is still in the cards, there are still a lot of games left to be played — and the players plan to take the remainder of the season one game at a time.
"I think, in my personal opinion, you can't look at bigger picture, especially now," safety Justin Simmons said after the game. "We always talk about it: One week at a time, head down, 1-0. That just has to be the mindset. You start looking at who has to lose, who has to win, and you're not focused on what's more important. We have our own problems. We dug ourselves in this hole, and we have to dig ourselves out. We just have to let this hurt tonight, watch the film, and reload and get ready for next week."
Wide receiver Kendall Hinton added that the team feels the ramifications of this loss, but they have to find a way to shake it off.
"This [loss] stung," Hinton said. "We knew the situation; we knew what this game was. It's going to hurt. Let it sting tonight and then prepare tomorrow for next week."
The Broncos will travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers this week, followed by a trip to Baltimore to face the Ravens. As they prepare for a stretch of road games, it is imperative that the team quickly moves forward.
"[Carolina] Panthers," inside linebacker Alex Singleton said of where the team goes from here. "I mean, that's all we can do. We have to come together, learn from it. A lot of teams in this situation, you've seen time and time again, will quit. It's the one thing we can't do. There are still enough games left that we can fight. Do what we need to do, but just go one at a time. Like I said, spend this week, get together, stay together, be together. Don't let them continue to keep compounding, and find a way to get a win."
Regardless of the Broncos' record, defensive end Dre'Mont Jones noted that the team continues to support and believe in each other.
"No matter what, we're still rallying together," Jones said. "Chemistry is still strong. The thing that stood out to us was our effort and our camaraderie no matter what. Even after the big play when they scored — we all came here together. I saw the look on everyone's faces that we meant [it when] we say that we're a team, and no matter what the record is we're going to stick together regardless."
Below the Fold
The Raiders' top playmakers showed out in Sunday's game, and Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett emphasized his respect for their performances after the game.
"I give so much credit to the Raiders," Hackett said. "They did a great job. [Defensive end] Maxx [Crosby], he's one of the best players in the NFL. He's a dominant defensive end, and he continually shows that. He got the two sacks, and it's one of those things, we knew that he was going to be a threat, and we have to do an even better job being able to handle him. [Running back Josh] Jacobs is very good running back. He ran hard. There was a lot of contact, guys were hitting him, and he was moving them. We knew they were going to run the ball and he did a nice job, again."
