The Denver Broncos had nothing to play for on Sunday.
After being eliminated from the postseason by the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas night, the Broncos season was effectively finished.
They would face an Oakland Raiders team that could lock up the No. 2 seed in the AFC, an important bye week and a home playoff game with a victory. And to make matters worse, rumor has it that head coach Gary Kubiak would be coaching his final game before retiring due to health concerns.
The Broncos had a number of players out with injuries, including defensive end DeMarcus Ware, tight end A.J. Derby, linebacker Brandon Marshall and wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders, who leave early in the first quarter.
Was there any point in even playing this game?
Not really.
But it was the Broncos who showed some heart and whipped the Raiders for most of the 60 minutes, sending them on to the postseason with some bruises and more than a few questions of their own.
The Broncos closed out the 2016 NFL season with some sort of style, even if it wasn’t what we had hoped for back in September.
Denver will go into the offseason with a number of questions, not the least of which could be who their new head coach will be.
Sure, the win could hurt the Broncos draft status by a pick or two, but this wasn’t about business; this was personal.
How else can you explain Denver routing the 12-3 Raiders 24-6, and racking up nearly 350 total yards, while holding Oakland to just over 220?
The Broncos simply outhustled, out-hit and out-executed the Raiders all day long.
They forced three turnovers, while committing just one of their own.
Denver somehow even managed to rush for 143 yards behind an offensive line that has been in shambles for most of the year.
The Denver defense may have been undermanned, but they showed that they can still be a force, as they knocked Raiders starting quarterback Matt McGloin from the game in the first half.
And while the Orange Crush rushing defense has been a bit suspect this season, they did hold the Raiders to just 57 yards on the ground.
All of this coming at the expense of the hated Raiders is just an added bonus.
In the coming weeks and months there will be much discussion about who the Broncos new head coach should be, who their starting quarterback will be, and what new players they can bring in to help them get back into contention next season.
The 2016 Denver Broncos finished the season with a disappointing 9-7 record and are the 16th Super Bowl champion to fail to qualify for the playoffs the following year, but for now, let’s give this a group a little credit for coming out and showing some heart and possibly sending Gary Kubiak into retirement on a positive note.
