The Broncos won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half.
The Raiders were forced to punt on their opening possession, and with just under 11:00 left in the first quarter, Justin Tuck turned the corner and was able to bring down Peyton Manning for the first Oakland sack of the afternoon.
Two plays later, facing a 3rd & 9, Manning tried to find Demaryius Thomas but Charles Woodson provided the coverage and forced the incomplete pass.
On 2nd & 2, Justin Tuck batted down a Peyton Manning backward pass that Keith McGill recovered and returned for a score. Sebastian Janikowski added the PAT to make the score 10-7 with 3:42 left in the first quarter.
Facing a 3rd & 10 with 10:20 left in the first half, Manning connected with Wes Welker but the wide receiver was brought down by Chance Casey and Brandian Ross short of the first-down marker that forced a Denver punt.
On 3rd & 7, Carr stood in the pocket and delivered a strike to Mychal Rivera for a gain of 14 and an Oakland first down.
With just over 5:00 left in the first half, Manning threw to Andre Caldwell, but DJ Hayden provided the coverage and forced the incomplete pass.
Two plays later, Wes Welker recovered a fumble short of the first down marker that forced Denver to punt yet again.
The Broncos moved the ball the length of the field, but on 3rd & 8, Manning's pass to Demaryius Thomas was incomplete and Denver was forced to settle for a field goal.
