ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — A year after ending an ignominious losing streak against the Kansas City Chiefs, the Denver Broncos are out to extinguish another embarrassing skid Sunday when they host the Las Vegas Raiders.
Kansas City has owned the AFC West for eight years while the Raiders and Broncos have spent that time taking turns as the dregs of the division.
Yet, the Broncos (2-2) have lost eight straight times to the Raiders (2-2), a string of defeats that's as perplexing as any one-sided series in the NFL given how evenly matched the teams have been the last several seasons.
Take away games against each other and the Raiders are 24-35 since 2020 and the Broncos are 25-33.
It's one thing to lose to the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes 16 times in a row as Denver did before an emphatic 24-9 win over Kansas City last season.
It's quite another to get schooled year in and year out by the likes of Aiden O'Connell, Jimmy Garoppolo and Derek Carr, who won his last six starts against the Broncos after starting out 5-6 against them.
The Broncos' last win in storied AFC West rivalry came on Dec. 29, 2019, when Shelby Harris' knockdown of Carr's 2-point pass to an open Hunter Renfrow with 7 seconds left preserved Denver's 16-15 victory on the final weekend of the regular season.
That put an emphatic end to the Raiders' dim playoff hopes and ended Oakland's run as an NFL city. The Raiders moved to Las Vegas the following year and have won all four home games against the Broncos since then and by an average score of 28-16 and all four games in Denver by an average of 26-19.
The Raiders are dealing with both injury (Maxx Crosby missed his first career game Sunday) and intrigue (Will Davante Adams get traded?).
The Raiders swear Adams' situation won't matter come kickoff and besides, high drama always seems to galvanize them when it comes to playing the Broncos.
Left tackle Garett Bolles, the longest-tenured Bronco, said Wednesday the losing streak to the Raiders isn't something he's even thinking about.
“We have a game Sunday at 2:05 on Fox at Mile High Stadium,” Bolles said. "That's just our job. That's what I have to focus on. I don't really focus on the buzz ... you don't focus on what's happened in the past or this or that. You just stay the course and get ready for four quarters. It's going to be a battle. It always is with them.”
And for the last eight meetings, the Raiders have come out victorious.
Jarrett Stidham made his second straight start in place of the benched Russell Wilson and got knocked down 16 times with five sacks. Stidham finished 1-1 and returned to backup duty this summer behind rookie Bo Nix.
Garoppolo threw two touchdown passes to fellow newcomer Jakobi Meyers in their Las Vegas debut and the Raiders spoiled Sean Payton’s first game as Denver’s coach. Payton began his Denver tenure with a failed onside kick.
Carr hit Adams with a 35-yard TD pass on the third play of OT. The Raiders tied it on Daniel Carlson's short field goal thanks to a crucial blunder by Wilson, whose throwaway pass instead of a slide on third down left the Raiders plenty of time.
Josh Jacobs ran for a career-best 144 yards and two touchdowns and was the star in an emphatic sealing drive that gave Josh McDaniels his first win as a head coach since being fired by Denver in 2010.
Las Vegas won despite three turnovers when Jacobs rushed for 129 yards and the Raiders' defense dominated. It was 9 for 10 in stopping Denver on third down and limited the Broncos to a mere 18 yards on the ground.
Jon Gruden's red-faced resignation didn’t unravel the Raiders as Carr threw for 341 yards and two TDs and Crosby making three sacks, giving longtime special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia a win in his debut as interim head coach.
Gruden got his first win in Denver in eight tries when Darren Waller hauled in Carr's 2-point conversion pass in the final minute and Crosby blocked Brandon McManus' 63-yard field goal try in the closing seconds.
Jacobs ran for 112 yards and two TDs and Jeff Heath intercepted two of Drew Lock's passes. The Raiders came into the game last in the league with five takeaways and doubled that total in one afternoon.
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Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew celebrates after the Raiders defeated the Cleveland Browns during in an NFL football game Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/David Becker)
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (10) reacts after throwing his first touchdown pass against the New York Jets during the third quarter of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Davante Adams is tackled by Carolina Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 22, 2024, in Las Vegas. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Denver Broncos offensive tackle Garett Bolles (72) reacts after defeating the New York Jets in an NFL football game, Sunday, Sept. 29, 2024, in East Rutherford, N.J. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)
An Israeli airstrike on an apartment in central Beirut has killed seven Hezbollah-affiliated first responders. Israel has been pounding areas of the country where the militant group has a strong presence since late September, but has rarely struck in the heart of the capital.
There was no warning before the strike late Wednesday, which hit an apartment in central Beirut not far from the United Nations headquarters, the prime minister’s office and parliament. Hezbollah’s civil defense unit said seven of its members were killed.
The strike came as Israel was pursuing a ground incursion into Lebanon against Hezbollah, while also conducting strikes in Gaza that killed dozens, including children. The Israeli military said eight soldiers have died in the conflict in southern Lebanon.
Israel and Hezbollah have traded fire across the Lebanon border almost daily since the day after Hamas’ cross-border attack on Oct. 7, 2023, which killed 1,200 Israelis and took 250 others hostage. Israel declared war on the militant group in the Gaza Strip in response. More than 41,000 Palestinians have been killed in the territory, and just over half the dead have been women and children, according to local health officials.
Here is the latest:
JERUSALEM — The Israeli military said Thursday that it killed a senior Hamas leader in an airstrike in the Gaza Strip around three months ago.
It said that a strike on an underground compound in northern Gaza killed Rawhi Mushtaha and two other Hamas commanders, Sameh Siraj and Sameh Oudeh.
There was no immediate comment from Hamas.
The military said the three commanders had taken refuge in a fortified underground compound in northern Gaza that served as a command and control center.
It said Mushtaha was a close associate of Yahya Sinwar, the top leader of Hamas who helped mastermind the Oct. 7 attack into Israel that triggered the war.
Sinwar is believed to be alive and in hiding inside Gaza.
NICOSIA, Cyprus — The British government chartered more flights to help U.K. nationals leave Lebanon, a day after an evacuation flight left Beirut.
The government said in a statement that the flights will continue as “long as the security situation allows” and that it’s working to increase capacity on commercial flights for British nationals.
U.K. Defense Secretary John Healey on Wednesday visited a British military base on Cyprus where around 700 troops, Foreign Office staff and Border Force officers have been deployed to a British military base in Cyprus to help with evacuation plans.
British nationals and their spouses, partners and children under the age of 18 are eligible. Dependents who aren’t British nationals will need a valid visa granting a maximum six-month stay in the U.K.
BEIRUT — An Israeli strike in the Lebanese capital Beirut killed seven health and rescue workers, an Islamic health organization said.
The airstrike in the residential Bashoura district targeted an apartment in a multi-story building that houses an office of the Health Society, a group of civilian first responders affiliated to Hezbollah.
It was the closest strike to the central downtown district of Beirut, where the United Nations and government offices are located.
It was the second airstrike to hit central Beirut this week and the second to directly target the Health Society in 24 hours. No Israeli warning was issued to the area before it was hit. The Israeli military did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the strike in central Beirut or the allegations it used phorphorous bombs.
Israel has mostly concentrated its airstrikes in south and eastern Lebanon, as well as the southern suburbs of Beirut where Hezbollah has a strong presence, but its attacks have spanned the entire country and killed many civilians.
Beirut’s southern suburbs also saw heavy bombardment overnight in areas where the Israeli army had earlier issued a warning online for residents to evacuate.
TOKYO — Japan on Thursday dispatched two Self Defense Force planes to prepare for a possible airlift of Japanese citizens from Lebanon.
Two C-2 transport aircraft are expected to arrive in Jordan and Greece on Friday, Japan NHK national television reported.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshimasa Hayashi told reporters that there has been no report of injury involving the about 50 Japanese nationals in Lebanon.
Japan dispatched SDF aircraft in October and November 2023 to evacuate more than 100 Japanese and South Korean citizens from Israel.
SYDNEY — Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said on Thursday her government had booked 500 seats on commercial aircraft for Australian citizens, permanent residents and their families to leave Lebanon on Saturday.
The seats are available to 1,700 Australians and their families known to be in Lebanon on two flights from Beirut to Cyprus, Wong said.
“What I would say to Australians who wish to leave, please take whatever option is available to you,” Wong told reporters in Geelong, Australia.
“Please do not wait for your preferred route,” she added.
A Hezbollah paramedic walks between debris after an airstrike hit an apartment in a multistory building, in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Lebanese women stand in front an apartment in a multistory building hit by Israeli airstrike, in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A destroyed apartment in a multistory building hit by Israeli airstrike, in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
Hezbollah paramedics walk between debris after an airstrike hit an apartment in a multistory building, in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A woman reacts in front an apartment in a multistory building hit by Israeli airstrike, in central Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
This image from United Nations Television, shows Israel Ambassador Danny Danon during a meeting of the United Nations Security Council, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (UNTV via AP)
Soldiers carry the coffin of Israeli Army Capt. Eitan Yitzhak Oster, who was killed in action in Lebanon, during his funeral at Mt. Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
An Israeli Apache helicopter releases flares near the Israeli-Lebanon border, as seen from northern Israel, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Baz Ratner)
Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike in Dahiyeh, Beirut, Lebanon, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)
Police stand guard at the site of an apparent Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
Workers clean at the site of an apparent Israeli airstrike in Damascus, Syria, Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Omar Sanadiki)
People collecting remains of victims after an airstrike that hit an apartment in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
A firefighter stands in front of an apartment hit by an Israeli airstrike, in Beirut, Lebanon, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Hussein Malla)
