The Sports Xchange

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Believe it or not, you can win a Super Bowl with games like the one the Denver Broncos had Sunday.

Four of the last 15 world champions had multiple wins in the regular season in which they didn’t score an offensive touchdown: the 2000 Ravens, 2002 Buccaneers, 2003 Patriots and 2012 Ravens. And 16 of the previous 28 teams with multiple regular-season wins without an offensive touchdown made the postseason.

So the fact that the Broncos’ offense was held out of the end zone for the second time in five games during a 16-10 win at Oakland on Sunday isn’t fatal to their hopes. It shows the strength of the defense, which leads the league in a slew of statistics, and its resilience to overcome the offense’s inability to consistently generate scores.

But those teams had offenses that eventually improved to near the league average. After five games, the Broncos rank 30th in total yardage, 31st in yardage per play, 31st in yardage per rushing attempt and 27th in yardage per pass play.

The defense is good enough to win a championship. The offense needs to get to mediocrity. It’s not there yet.

“We’ve got to play a hell of a lot better,” head coach Gary Kubiak said. “I mean, it starts with me and the offensive coaches. We’ve got to do better offensively.”

It also starts with the offensive line, which struggled to get any push against the Raiders’ front seven. Kubiak rotated recently signed Tyler Polumbus in for Ryan Harris at left tackle on Sunday, while Michael Schofield continued to work at right tackle as part of the shuffling that followed Ty Sambrailo’s shoulder injury suffered at Detroit on Sept. 27.

The results were mixed. Manning was sacked twice, and did well at stepping up and away from pressure. But an end-zone interception he threw under pressure from Malcolm Smith was costly, and prevented the Broncos from entering halftime with a lead.

Against the Raiders, half a Broncos team was enough. It might be enough against the Browns next week, too. But Nov. 1 brings the Green Bay Packers, and over the nine weeks that follow, the Broncos must face the Colts, Patriots, Chargers (twice) and Steelers, who should have quarterback Ben Roethlisberger back by the time they meet in Week 15.

REPORT CARD VS. RAIDERS

–PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus. Despite some calls from Broncos fans to sit Peyton Manning after a second consecutive two-interception game, it wasn’t all about their 18-year veteran quarterback. Dropped passes by Ronnie Hillman and Demaryius Thomas cost the Broncos a pair of potential touchdowns, and the ground game failed to generate enough momentum to take any pressure off Manning.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: D. There were few opportunities for C.J. Anderson and Ronnie Hillman, and when they got the football, there were few holes. Just two of their 18 carries moved the chains as the Raiders stacked the box and dared Manning to throw deep and outside. A failed goal-to-go situation from the Oakland 4-yard line that included two runs for two yards left the Broncos stymied.

–PASS DEFENSE: A-minus. Derek Carr racked up 249 yards, and found Michael Crabtree, Amari Cooper and Clive Walford downfield for gains of at least 20 yards apiece. But while he racked up yardage, he was often forced to settle for checkdowns and ultimately buckled under the Broncos’ pressure, culminating in a six-man rush that forced the errant throw that Chris Harris Jr. intercepted and returned 74 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown. Carr won’t be the last quarterback to put up a decent yardage number against the Broncos, but as long as they keep generating explosive plays via sacks (four) and takeaways (two) on dropbacks, this is an equation that works.

–RUN DEFENSE: A. A modest 11-yard gain was the Raiders’ longest carry of the day as the Broncos’ rushing defense bounced back from Adrian Peterson’s fourth-and-1 jaunt a week earlier. Derek Wolfe’s return helped fortify the run defense, which had to withstand an injury to Vance Walker that sidelined him much of the game.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: A-minus. Sylvester Williams’ block of a Sebastian Janikowski field-goal attempt proved crucial and was the Broncos’ second blocked placekick in three games, following a blocked extra-point attempt by Matt Prater in Detroit two weeks earlier. Brandon McManus continues to be perfect on placekicks, drilling all three field-goal attempts, including a 52-yarder. He also came within inches of a perfectly executed pooch punt out of a field-goal formation that Aaron Brewer couldn’t quite corral.

–COACHING: B. Kubiak once again tweaked his offensive personnel groupings to try and generate some power in the running game, but the offset pistol package, and three-tight end formations did nothing to build any momentum. Coordinator Wade Phillips adapted to in-game injuries to DeMarcus Ware and Aqib Talib and didn’t lose his nerve to try and make up for their absences; he continued to call five- and six-man rushes that generated pressure and, ultimately, the decisive pick-six.