The second half of the 2025 NFL regular season kicked off Thursday night in Denver, where the Broncos survived the AFC West-rival Las Vegas Raiders 10-7 in an ugly affair. Or so we’re told … might have slept through most of it, or caught the “Superman” marathon on HBO, or a combination thereof.
But you’re here to be engaged with NFL content and information, not Kryptonite – which is exactly what the football seems to be to Denver’s offense. Oops, digressed again.
Let’s try to identify some winners from this slog and losers (aside from those of us charged with analyzing it):
The AFC West leaders were already in good shape entering the evening – and their situation has improved, ugly wins counting the same as pretty ones. Now 8-2, Denver is slotted as the AFC’s projected No. 1 playoff seed, a half-game ahead of the Indianapolis Colts and New England Patriots.
Denver improved to 2-0 without injured CB Patrick Surtain II, the reigning NFL Defensive Player of the Year who’s still recovering from a chest injury. No matter. The Broncos D limited the Raiders to 188 yards while adding six more sacks to their league-leading total (46).
