Osweiler sacked 5 times in Raiders 15-12 win over Broncos

But two of his throws were for touchdowns, and the Raiders (6-7) beat the Broncos for the first time since September 12, 2011 despite being held to minus-12 yards in the first half – the worst performance by a team heading into halftime in almost a quarter-century.

Mack and the defense managed to keep Osweiler and the Broncos offense in check in the second half, shutting them out after the second quarter. No matter where he was coming from against Denver’s offensive line, it was an absolute mismatch, and Mack proved once again that he’s one of the most dynamic and versatile young defensive players in the league.

Oakland Raiders safety Charles Woodson doesn’t think teammate Khalil Mack has peaked yet. “You saw it today in the red zone, Brock Osweiler couldn’t put it in the end zone”. Even more ominous for Raiders opponents: Mack has nine sacks just in the past three games. Say what you want about him, in four games, the Broncos have had a solid offensive showing once (against the New England Patriots, ironically). Denver hasn’t solved its vertical passing game woes now that Osweiler is under center instead of Manning.

Kubiak said that because of Pro Bowl voting and film review of Denver’s loss to Oakland, he hadn’t met with his quarterbacks yet.

The Raiders expected linebacker Khalil Mack to be a great player-that’s why they selected him fifth in the 2014 draft out of Buffalo.

Manning, nursing an ailing left foot, is back to throwing. “Obviously, I knew that he would be coming quick….”

Osweiler has been sacked 17 times in just over 17 quarters played. “Right now is the time”. He pulled a shirt over his badly bruised torso, threw a backpack over his shoulder and offered me a handshake. “It culminated in a loss tonight”, he said. And if the Raiders can run the table the rest of the season, the franchise will have posted their first winning season since 2002. He also lost a fumble. Condo was injured while trying to recover an Emmanuel Sanders muffed punt.

Oakland Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack (52) celebrates after one of his five sacks on the day against the Denver Broncos during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 13, 2015, in Denver.

Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said part of Mack’s recent success can be attributed to Oakland’s secondary, but conceded that Mack was “unbelievable”.

What happened? How could Rivera, who has never been mistaken for Rob Gronkowski, get so wide open? As a result, the Broncos scored 12 points, all on field goals and all in the first half.

But at halftime, Del Rio – in his first game back in Denver, where he spent three years as the defensive coordinator – was smiling and relaxed. So, given the options, Del Rio thought there was a better chance of making the 2-pointer.

But Del Rio took a unique approach in the locker room after that awful first half. Running back C.J. Anderson should return from injury, so that will help but other than that this group mostly is what it is. Apparently starter Ronnie Hillman’s stat line – 12 rushes for 20 yards – wasn’t considered emergency material.

The Broncos couldn’t get into the end zone in the first half despite 224 yards of offense, settling for four field goals from McManus, each one shorter than the previous – 41, 35, 29 and 21 yards. This man played a phenomenal game good enough to reach the top of the NFL Sacks’ leader list.

While Osweiler may have finished with 308 yards, don’t fall into the trap of praising him.

While offensive linemen can greatly influence how much pressure can get to a quarterback, there is some evidence the sacks themselves are more of a quarterback stat than a line stat. To Mack’s point, just this year there’s been a considerable difference between Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler after the snap.