LAS VEGAS — In a city built on the get-rich-quick seduction of turning cards and tumbling dice, the Broncos on Sunday afternoon plowed ever closer to their fortune by taking the slow road. They eschewed neon pulse for a steady drumbeat. They stayed off the high wire and stuck to the methodical. T hey played mutual fund football rather sitting at the high rollers table. Keeler: Think Broncos are NFL playoff frauds? Not when Sean Payton calls game like he did vs. Raiders. It wasn’t always 3 yards and a cloud of Nevada desert for Sean Payton’s offense in a 24-17 win over the lowly Raiders -- the game was not nearly as competitive as the final count indicated — but the Broncos know where they want to go and have a clear-eyed idea about how to get there. This did not have to be flashy. Ten straight wins comes with plenty of that. "Each one's different," Payton said. "Our team's done a good job of really focusing, playing for each other the next week. Putting good work in. "They're well aware of what they're playing for." The Broncos are now 11-2 and they have not lost since Sept. 21. This matchup may not have drawn a ton of eyeballs nationally, but it delivered substantial ramifications for Denver. By beating the Raiders, Payton’s team grabbed full control of its own path in the AFC. They tied New England for the best record in the conference and in the process, critically, secured a tie-breaker advantage over the Patriots. Related Articles Broncos RB RJ Harvey shows he’s ‘grown up quick’ in punishing performance vs. Raiders Keeler: Think Broncos are NFL playoff frauds? Not when Sean Payton calls game like he did vs. Raiders. Through up-and-down year, Broncos’ Marvin Mims’ stays focused on return game: ‘That’s his release’ Broncos defense closing on NFL’s sack record, but still not pleased with performance late vs. Raiders PHOTOS: Denver Broncos defeat Las Vegas Raiders 24-17 in 10th straight win, NFL Week 14 If the teams finish the regular season with the same record, they’re guaranteed to have identical marks against conference opponents. The second tie-breaker is common opponents. The Broncos improved to 6-0, the Patriots are 5-1 -- the lone loss, remarkably, a Week 1 defeat to the Raiders — with no more left on the docket. If the Broncos match New England for the next month and the pair stay ahead of a fading field, the AFC playoffs will run through Empower Field at Mile High. “We’ve got a tough road ahead but we’re all ready to go and excited for it,” said quarterback Bo Nix, referencing a set of four closing regular season games against playoff contenders in Green Bay, Jacksonville, Kansas City and the Los Angeles Chargers. Denver pulverized its way to victory here by mounting three massive offensive marches that resulted in points and put control of the game’s flow in a vice. The Broncos racked up 39 minutes, 3 seconds in time of possession and much of it came on the trio of drives, each one chewing more time off the clock than the last. Broncos-Raiders report card: Sean Payton, Bo Nix execute ruthless gameplan in comfortable win They looked like this: • 14 plays, 81 yards and 8:54 culminating in a Nix 8-yard touchdown run. • 14 plays, 91 yards and 9:13 culminating in an RJ Harvey 3-yard touchdown run • 19 plays, 90 yards and 10:17 culminating in a Wil Lutz 23-yard field goal Those three drives alone resulted in more time of possession -- and more points — than the Broncos had in regulation against Washington the week previous. It marked the first game since at least 2000 in which Denver mounted three 14-plus play drives and two eight-plus play touchdown drives. RJ Harvey (12) of the Denver Broncos runs as Lonnie Johnson Jr. (32) of the Las Vegas Raiders tackles during the first quarter at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post) Payton earlier in the week called the Broncos’ offensive plan for Las Vegas a month ago “awful.” The Raiders and defensive coordinator Patrick Graham in November had a plan that befuddled Payton’s myriad looks, groupings and approaches. “Last time, they just came out in something we’d never seen before,” Denver tight end Adam Trautman said “Literally, I’ve never seen it on an NFL field, to be honest. (This time) we did a great job of scheming it up, having certain checks to some of the fronts they had. It’s tough to run against them anyway because they load the box when we bring out our heavier personnels, so it’s tough to run anyway. “But we were able to consistently get positive yards.” In the process, a funny thing happened: The Broncos played a grinding, ball control style offense while leaning heavily on the passing game rather than the rushing attack early on. When Nix hit Courtland Sutton for a third-down conversion with 9:05 left in the game -- the Broncos converted 7 of 12 on third down after going 5 of 15 in the first meeting — Denver had 38 drop-backs and just 19 rushing attempts. “Oh wow. I didn’t realize we dropped back that much in this game,” Trautman said. “It didn’t feel like it because we sustained such long drives.” Indeed, they did. In part because of a mostly efficient run game and in part because Nix completed 31 of 38 passes. That 81.6% completion rating is third-best in a single game in his career and by far his best of this season. The second-year man hadn’t hit more than 65.5% since Week 4. Quinn Meinerz (77) of the Denver Broncos hoists Bo Nix (10) as they celebrate Nix’s rushing touchdown against the Las Vegas Raiders during the first quarter at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post) “Bo played incredibly efficiently today,” McGlinchey said. “He got the ball into peoples’ hands and they caught it. The ball was rarely on the ground today, which was awesome. … They were playing a lot of base and they didn’t really match personnel. They were kind of playing down-and-distance, which makes it harder for the play-caller when you’re expecting them to match to (personnel groupings). “When they play that way, they kind of dare you to throw the football and Bo was able to do that." The Broncos wanted to be able to spread out Las Vegas’ defense when it played heavy regardless of what personnel grouping it had on the field. That sometimes meant fullback Adam Prentice split wide or other odd-looking receiver sets, but the plan worked just as designed. "It was the antithesis of our plan last time," Payton said. Nix got Denver into advantageous situations at the line of scrimmage and then played with pace and efficiency but also patience. “It was really important to identify what the issue was,” McGlinchey said. “We were prepared for anything. The last couple times we’ve played these guys we got stuff we kind of weren’t expecting or that we hadn’t seen before. “We did a lot of things well today that put us in good positions no matter what personnel groupings were on the field, we were able to, in Sean’s words, play the songs we know by heart. We were able to do that well and play efficiently today. I loved the plan and it put our players in great positions to win.” Nix didn’t complete a pass longer than 15 yards. The Broncos didn’t have a play longer than 18 -- on a fullback belly, of all things. And it did not matter. John Franklin-Myers (98) of the Denver Broncos celebrates sacking Geno Smith (7) of the Las Vegas Raiders during the second quarter at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada on Sunday, Dec. 7, 2025. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post) In fact, on this day, it was almost the point. Develop a plan. Stick to the plan. Execute the plan. Fly home with a victory. Another one. Now 10 straight. Broncos defense closing on NFL’s sack record, but still not pleased with performance late vs. Raiders Nix told the broadcast after the game that the win wasn’t pretty, but even if that’s true, this was a different hue of ugly. This wasn’t disfunction against the New York Jets or three quarters of shutout against the New York Giants. It certainly wasn't 10-7 against these same Raiders a month ago in Denver. This was following the prescribed path to victory. The road just happened to be full of desert dirt. Want more Broncos news? 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