Denver, CO

Denver defense delivers as Broncos edge Raiders to keep NFL’s best record

Published

6 months ago

November 7, 2025

Denver defense delivers as Broncos edge Raiders to keep NFL’s best record

Denver’s defense bailed out the Broncos in a 10-7 squeaker over the reeling Las Vegas Raiders on Thursday night, sacking Geno Smith six times to atone for spotty performances on offense and special teams.

The Broncos (8-2) own the league’s best record, but they didn’t look anything like it on a windy night in the Rocky Mountains.

They barely outplayed the Raiders (2-7), who just traded away top receiver Jakobi Meyers, in winning for the seventh straight time overall and extending their NFL-best home winning streak to 10.

Wil Lutz’s 32-yard field goal with five seconds left in the third quarter broke a 7-7 tie and followed JL Skinner’s block of AJ Cole’s punt, setting up Denver’s struggling offense at the Las Vegas 12.

The Broncos lost two yards on three plays and Lutz, who was way short on a 59-yarder earlier in the third quarter, nailed it through the wind to give Denver their first lead.

Cornerback Kyu Blue Kelly’s interception set up the Raiders at the Denver 45-yard line in the waning minutes, but Daniel Carlson was wide right on a 48-yard field-goal try with 4:26 remaining that would have tied it.

The Broncos chewed up the rest of the clock with a methodical drive at last and ending up taking kneel-downs in victory formation inside the Raiders 20-yard line after Las Vegas ran out of timeouts.

The game was a typical Thursday night flag-fest with neither team able to get into an offensive rhythm and a steady stream of players – including Smith – retreating to the sidelines and the blue tent to have injuries checked out.

The Broncos’ trend of slow starts continued as they managed just six yards in six first-quarter snaps and trailed 7-0 after allowing Ashton Jeanty’s four-yard touchdown run.

The Broncos finally got a first down on their fifth possession when JK Dobbins scampered for a 13-yard gain on first down. Four plays later, Bo Nix found Troy Franklin for an 11-yard touchdown to tie it at 7-7.

Denver had 116 yards in the first half, two more than Las Vegas. Denver’s defense tallied five first-half sacks. The Broncos have 46 so far this season. That’s the most through 10 games by any team since at least 1990.

The Broncos again made several miscues on special teams, and rookie Jeremy Crawshaw shanked three first-half punts, which traveled 30, 36 and 38 yards. Skinner made up for that by blocking Cole’s punt with his facemask.

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Denver, CO

Red flag fatigue? Colorado sees near-record number of critical fire days

Published

6 hours ago

April 23, 2026

Press Room

Red flag fatigue? Colorado sees near-record number of critical fire days

BOULDER COUNTY, Colo. — If you feel like we’ve had a lot of red flag days across Colorado since the start of the year, you’re right.

According to our Denver7 weather team, there have been 369 red flag warnings across the state since the start of 2026, marking the second-highest number recorded to date since 2005. In 2023, there were 408 red flag warnings from Jan. 1 through April 22 of that year, according to Denver7 meteorologist Danielle Grant

A red flag day happens when warm temperatures, low humidity and strong winds combine to create critical fire weather conditions.

▶️ WATCH: Denver7’s Claire Lavezzorio talked red flag fatigue with residents and officials

Colorado sees second-highest number of red flag days since 2005

In Boulder County, officials say the frequency of these warnings in their area is breaking records, too.

“We’ve had 21 thus far since the beginning of 2026, and that number is almost as many as we’ve had in the previous years combined, 2024 and 2025,” said Vinnie Montez, a spokesperson for the Boulder County Sheriff’s Office.

Today’s Forecast

Fierce winds, high fire danger Thursday across the Denver metro, plains

With the high volume of alerts, Montez worries the frequent warnings will become white noise.

Denver7 asked him if there is some red flag fatigue in the community.

“When you see the same commercial come up over and over again, you’re kind of like, flip the channel, right? I think that can happen in what we’re messaging,” Montez said.

At Chautauqua Park in Boulder, residents are taking note of how often these days are happening.

“It’s almost every day,” Mac Whittington said.

Local

‘We’ve never seen this’: Rare fire danger grips Colorado mountain towns

Levi Brown, a Boulder resident, pointed out that all the ingredients for high fire danger are present.

“You look around, there’s a lot of fuel in the ground, a lot of wind blowing right now, in fact,” Brown said.

For Brown, who has lived in the area for 26 years, every warning carries weight.

“It seems to be more prevalent now. And I don’t take it lightly,” Brown said.

For those who do not take the days seriously, Whittington offered a word of caution.

“Hopefully we don’t have to learn the lesson the hard way,” he said.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

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Denver, CO

Nuggets vs. Timberwolves | 3 keys to a Denver win in Game 3

Published

18 hours ago

April 22, 2026

Press Room

Nuggets vs. Timberwolves | 3 keys to a Denver win in Game 3

Since 1984, the team that wins Game 3 of a series after a 1-1 start goes on to win the series 71.8% of the time. That advantage is up for grabs Thursday in Minneapolis. Here are three keys for Denver to reverse momentum and reclaim the series lead: 1. MVP > DPOY Through two games […]

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