Mirage or real? That was the question for the Denver Broncos after they beat a horrible Arizona Cardinals team in what feels like forever ago. After Sunday’s 30-23 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs Jared Veldheer Jersey , there’s no question it was a desert mirage. In the process, Denver has now lost seven-straight games to the Chiefs. For that result to come in what John Elway called a “must-win” game, the Broncos (3-5) season is on the precipice of being over — if not there already. To make matters even more interesting, the NFL trade deadline falls on Tuesday.WinnersPhillip Lindsay Denver’s undrafted running back was his typical self, and this time as the lead back. Lindsay finished with 18 carries for 95 yards and a touchdown. It’s so much fun to watch Lindsay carry the ball and play the game. You can tell how much he loves this. Week in and week out, he’s on this list and someone whom fans can be proud of.Courtland Sutton Speaking of rookies who continue to impress and do their jobs, the Broncos receiver needs more chances and touches in this offense. As I’ve said before, Bill Musgrave needs to call three to five deep 50/50 balls for Sutton since he always seems to come down with them or get pass interference calls. Sutton had three catches for 78 yards, the later leading Denver. Tim Patrick The Broncos receiver only had one catch, but at the time (we thought) it was huge since it was at the end of the first half and resulted in a touchdown. The 24-yard touchdown would serve as a confidence builder for the offense and team, especially since Kansas City scored on the previous drive and got the ball to start the second half. Alas, the play didn’t matter. But credit still goes to Patrick for making a nice catch. He also had a nice run for 13 yards on an end-around. Losers Broncos offensive lineWe’ve come to expect some shitty showings by this unit, but my God. Even for Denver’s offensive line Connor McGovern Color Rush Jersey , this showing was horrid. What makes it worse is that it came against a bad Chiefs defense. By my count, four of the team’s 10 penalties were on the offensive line, and the Broncos allowed five sacks. Case Keenum For the amount of money Denver is paying him, until he plays a clean game, he will remain on this list. In every game Keenum has started for the Broncos, that’s now eight, he’s thrown an interception in all of them. And while Denver allowed five sacks, not all of them were on the line. Keenum has the pocket awareness of a newborn kangaroo. Neither has any idea where they are, they’re blind to the world around them, and completely vulnerable to anything that gets near them.Vance Joseph At what point is enough enough? Stop delaying the inevitable and fire Joseph. Make the switch to Tom McMahon, who has coordinated the only unit for the Broncos that has been consistent. Bring what McMahon has done for the special teams to the whole team. Bill Musgrave Speaking of enough is enough ... Denver’s offensive coordinator had his moments, but he just can’t help himself. Musgrave wants this offense to do things it’s not good at. As Benjamin Allbright pointed out on Twitter, on first-and-goal from the 8-yard line https://www.broncosfanstore.com , Musgrave calls two passes and a draw, and got bailed out on fourth down. Musgrave then calls a flea-flicker. Allbright: “Our RBs have gone 27 carries for 173 yards ... let’s throw a flea flicker to the wide side of the field with our average arm QB, and some swing passes.”Bradley RobyWhile Lindsey is always in the winners group, here’s where you’ll always find Denver’s cornerback.Broncos defense Kareem Hunt’s 23-yard touchdown on fourth down epitomizes this season and team. It is downright embarrassing. OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Most of the focus on Denver heading into the season opener was on how coach Vic Fangio and quarterback Joe Flacco would fare in their Broncos debut.There seemed to be few questions surrounding the strength of the team in star pass rushers Von Miller and Bradley Chubb.But with that dangerous duo neutralized by an improved Oakland offensive line led by big-ticket free agent Trent Brown, the Broncos came out flat in the opener and lost 24-16 to the Raiders on Monday night, ending the NFL’s longest opening week winning streak at seven games.“I was extremely disappointed in the loss but not discouraged,” Fangio said after his first game as an NFL head coach. “Once you see some of the mistakes we made, or plays we didn’t make, that we can see we can be better than we played tonight.”The offense led by Flacco struggled to close out drives and didn’t reach the end zone until the closing minutes, settling for field goals on three earlier trips to the red zone. The special teams allowed a long kick return that set up Oakland’s last score.But the most surprising aspect of the game was the lack of pass rush from Miller and Chubb. The Raiders allowed 52 sacks last season and it figured they would have trouble dealing with that tandem, even after adding Brown at right tackle in free agency to team with second-year left tackle Kolton Miller.But Miller and Chubb never even got close to Derek Carr as the Broncos recorded no sacks and no quarterback hits the entire game. Carr mostly got rid of the ball quickly but did hold onto it for a few deep shots and went 22 for 26 for 259 yards against a defense that should be one of the better ones in the league.“My job is to sack the quarterback and I didn’t get to him once, not even a quarterback hit Denver Broncos Customized Jerseys ,” Miller said. “Disappointed in myself on an individual level. They were throwing the ball quick, but we have to find a way to get there.”The offense predictably struggled at times as Flacco looked more like the quarterback who wore out his welcome in Baltimore the last couple of years than the one who was a Super Bowl MVP following the 2012 season. Denver struggled to get much going at all early in the game, going three-and-out on its first drive and failing to score any points in the first half.Flacco took a sack to knock Denver out of field goal range in the second quarter and a holding penalty late in the half on rookie tight end Noah Fant forced Brandon McManus into a 64-yard try off the infield dirt that fell short.The offense picked it up in the second half with scores on four of five possessions. But an inability to finish those drives with touchdowns ultimately proved to be the difference.“As ugly as it was for us in the first half, we fought really hard,” Flacco said. “At the end of the day it ended up being they were able to score when they got the ball down there and keep the momentum of the drive and we weren’t.”Denver drove down to the 6 on the first drive of the third quarter before Flacco was sacked by Benson Mayowa on third down, leading to a field goal.The Broncos drove inside the 10 again on the next drive but DaeSean Hamilton dropped a pass in the end zone on third down, leading to another field goal.Flacco took a third sack on third-and-2 from the 14 in the fourth quarter, leading to Denver’s third field goal of the night and by the time the Broncos finally scored a touchdown on Flacco’s 1-yard pass to Emmanuel Sanders with 2:15 to play it wasn’t enough.“I didn’t see much that was good obviously,” Fangio said of the red-zone offense. “We didn’t make the plays down there. That was really a big difference in the game in spite of everything else. They scored touchdowns and we didn’t.”Fangio opted to kick it deep with his team trailing by eight and holding three timeouts, but the Raiders converted two first downs and ran out the clock.“Disappointed but we’re not discouraged,” Miller said. “First game of the season. Hats off to the Raiders, they outplayed us today.”