DENVER — Davante Adams trotted into the end zone untouched. Not a Bronco was in sight as they watched another game slip through their fingers. 

The Raiders star wide receiver put the dagger in Denver’s dreadful season, handing the Broncos their seventh loss in 10 games. A 35-yard walk-off, overtime touchdown, gave the Raiders a 22-16 win and six-game winning streak over the Broncos. In a season full of lows, including six one-score losses, somehow Sunday was a new rock bottom. 

“It hurts,” safety and team captain Justin Simmons said. “I don’t know what else to say — it sucks.” 

The Broncos — as Emmanuel Sanders once said — are in a “world of suck.” They’ve lost six of their last seven games. They’ve lost three overtime games. They have only four touchdowns in their five home games. And they have now blown 10-point leads in their last two games. 

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Derek Carr, middle, celebrates with wide receiver Davante Adams (17) and wide receiver Keelan Cole (84) after Adams scored the winning touchdown during overtime against the Denver Broncos in Denver on Sunday.

David Zalubowski, The Associated Press

“What hurts maybe more than anything else is that these games are close,” quarterback Russell Wilson said. “We have to be able to find ways to win them. It’s never good to lose, but it’s almost like, man, somebody kick our butt.” 

The Broncos nearly avoided disaster and looked like the better team for 58 minutes and 17 seconds of the game. But with 1:43 remaining and trailing 16-13 — after the Broncos opted to throw the ball on third down instead of burning clock — the Raiders went down the field and tied the game at 16 to send it to overtime.

And they wasted little time in overtime, with quarterback Derek Carr finding Adams for the game-winning touchdown on the third snap. Adams, who had seven receptions for 141 yards and two touchdowns, beat Broncos star cornerback Pat Surtain II on the final play. 

“He ran a double move and I should have seen it,” a somber Surtain said. “I have to correct that.” 

The loss certainly wasn’t on Surtain, who did have one of his worst performances as a Bronco. And one could argue it wasn’t really on the defense, despite them having two opportunities to stop the Raiders. But again, as it has been all season, it was mostly on the offense’s lack of ability to score when needed most. 

It didn’t start that way, though. With quarterbacks coach Klint Kubiak taking over as the offense’s play-caller — a decision made by coach Nathaniel Hackett — Denver looked competent on offense. The Broncos started the game with a 92-yard touchdown drive, which was their first opening-drive touchdown in 15 games. They added a field goal on their second drive and drove all the way to inside the 5-yard-line on their third, before running back Melvin Gordon fumbled forcing a field goal try that was blocked. 

“I thought coach Kubiak called a great game,” said Wilson, who was 24 of 31 for 247 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. “I thought he was really sharp.” 

But then the offense sputtered. The Broncos had only 128 yards of offense in the second half and eight first downs, having to settle for two field goals. Kubiak or not, the same issues arose for the Broncos offense. 

“We’re so close, we continually talk about this over and over again,” Hackett said. “A couple plays here and there, and there’s a lot of different outcomes. I have to look at myself first, to see if there’s something that I can do to give some kind of spark to the offense. So I thought it would be good if I stepped away from that.” 

Sunday’s loss virtually puts the Broncos out of playoff contention. According to FiveThirtyEight.com, they now have a less than .5% chance at making the playoffs. Wilson said after the game they “can’t lose anymore games.” Even if they do that — which would require beating the Ravens, Rams, Chargers and Chiefs twice — they’re not guaranteed a spot.  

But this shouldn’t surprise anyone. Sunday’s result was fairly predictable, even if the Raiders are equally as terrible. The Broncos have shown little to no signs of knowing how to win close games not just this year, but really since 2016. Over the past six seasons, the Broncos are 19-31 in one-score games. 

That’s not a this-year problem. That’s a culture problem. 

“A big talk that we’ve had recently is culture,” Simmons said. “It’s year seven for me. Coach Hackett is my fourth head coach. And that’s just wild to think about. There’s so much turnover. Everyone wants to point the blame on certain people.

“You talk about culture and we have a tight-knit group, but something’s not going right, obviously.”

And Hackett will likely be the next victim of the Broncos’ on-field failures, joining Vance Joseph who was fired in 2018 and Vic Fangio who was fired in 2021. Things clearly haven’t worked under Hackett thus far, as he’s struggled with game management and play-calling — essentially giving both up with the hiring of Jerry Rosburg for game management and Kubiak taking over as the play-caller. When asked about his future Sunday, Hackett said, “Whatever happens, those things, I can’t control.”

But it’s also not all on Hackett. As Simmons said, at some point the mentality in the locker room has to change. And while the coaches are a large part of instilling that mentality, it’s also on ownership, the front office and, most importantly, the players. 

And though this season might be lost, changing the culture has to start now. 

“We’re in a pruning process,” Wilson said. “We’re in a process of understanding the journey of winning, the journey of learning how to be our best throughout a game.

“We’re going to do everything we can to turn this thing around.”