Dominant Thievery of the Las Vegas Raiders Defense

The dominant thievery of the Las Vegas Raiders defense stole the life from the Denver Broncos.

The Las Vegas Raiders offense has had to carry the team until Sunday's game against another divisional rival, the Denver Broncos. 

However, turnover after turnover, the Raiders defense took the life away from the Broncos offense on Sunday. 

"They all deserved credit," Coach Jon Gruden said of his team after the victory over the Broncos. "Credit the staff but most of all the players."

The Raiders offense was struggling during the first half, but when they needed help, the Raiders defense stepped up, went out there, and bailed them out.

The defense came away with five takeaways, four interceptions thrown by quarterback Drew Lock and a fumble lost by wide receiver DaeSean Hamilton, while the Raiders offense did not give up a turnover.

"Them boys went crazy," said running back Josh Jacobs, who was on the sidelines celebrating with the defense after a turnover. 

Raiders safety Jeff Heath had two interceptions in the first half, including one at the goal line in the second quarter's closing seconds, which prevented the Broncos from scoring right before half time to keep the Raiders ahead, 10-6.

"It was big, it took points off the board," Heath said on how important his second interception meant to the momentum swing right before the half.

The Raiders defense went out to the second half and picked up two more interceptions and a fumble. Carl Nassib and Nick Kwiatkoski each had interceptions, while Nevin Lawson forced and recovered a fumble in the fourth quarter.

Our very own Publisher of Sports Illustrated's Raider Maven, Hondo Carpenter, called it the Rule of Five: "If the Las Vegas Raiders win that, games are over. For those who don't remember it, it has to do with sacks and turnovers. If the Raiders have three sacks and give up two, that means they are plus one. If they then get four turnovers and give up only one, that means they are plus three. That would give them a plus-four for the day. They want to get to a plus-five ratio every game. Teams that reach the rule of five scenarios win 91 percent of their ball games on average."

And indeed they did; the Raiders would finish the game on a plus-five turnover ratio. 

We've said it throughout the year, teams that force turnovers win games.

Heath had a crucial interception against the Chiefs that helped turn the momentum around and the Raiders ultimately left Arrowhead with a win.

That momentum needs to carry over to this Sunday night when the Raiders face the Chiefs at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas. 

The Raiders are 3-0 against AFC West rivals and hope to stay undefeated in the division next week.

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