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DENVER -- The Oakland Raiders put two terrible quarters of offensive play behind them with the help of a cool, composed halftime pep talk from coach Jack Del Rio. Quarterback Derek Carr threw for two touchdowns in the second half, and the Raiders defense, led by defensive end Khalil Mack's five sacks, did not allow an offensive touchdown as Oakland shook off a sluggish start to beat the Denver Broncos 15-12 Sunday.
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"It was looking rough, but the positive was defensively, we kept them out of the end zone, limited them to field goals in the first half," said Raiders safety Charles Woodson, whose team trailed 12-0 after two quarters. "At halftime, Jack came in in upbeat, he came in smiling and he just asked the team: 'Did we believe in one another?' and everybody screamed out, 'Yeah!"
Added Mack: "He knew we could make that push in the second half. ... Knowing he believed in us, he pushed us and drove us to go out and get it done by any means we could."
Carr finished completed 12 of 29 for 135 yards in helping Oakland (6-7) snap an eight-game losing streak to Denver (10-3).
Mack led the Raiders' suffocating defense throughout. One of his sacks resulted in a safety, and the last one helped stop the Broncos' final possession.
"He was unbelievable," Del Rio said.
A former Broncos defensive coordinator, Del Rio added the win was "very sweet, and it's a win we needed. "
Denver quarterback Brock Osweiler lost for the first time in four starts in place of the injured Peyton Manning, who watched the game from the sideline. Osweiler finished 35 of 51 for 308 yards.
"Unfortunately, we kept making mistakes," Osweiler said. "I wasn't making the right reads. I wasn't making the right throw at times. It culminated in a loss."
Trailing by three in the second half, the Raiders capitalized on a muffed punt by Broncos returner Emmanuel Sanders to go in front for the first time.
Long snapper Jon Condo recovered the fumble at Denver's 11-yard line. After a procedure penalty pushed the Raiders back, Carr connected with wide-open tight end Mychal Rivera for a 16-yard touchdown and a three-point Raiders lead with 14:26 to play.
Because of the shoulder injury Condo sustained at the bottom of the pile on the Sanders punt, the Raiders eschewed kicking the extra point that would have given them a four-point lead. They attempted a two-point conversion that failed when Carr's pass fell incomplete in the end zone.
Later in the fourth, Denver kicker Brandon McManus missed a 49-yard field goal that would have tied it when the ball hit the left upright and bounced away. The Raiders missed a chance to add to their lead when kicker Sebastian Janikowski was wide left on a 43-yard field-goal try.
After a punt, the Broncos got the ball at their own 8-yard line with 2:35 remaining and no timeouts left. The drive stalled, and Oakland ran out the final moments.
"We were really poor in the red zone," Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said. "We played great defense and just didn't ever finish the game offensively or put ourselves in a position to finish them."
Held without a first down and limited to minus-12 yards offense in the first half, the Raiders finally got going on their opening possession of the third quarter. They found a way even though star wideout Amari Cooper was held without a catch in the game.
"It was very important because of how ugly the first half was," Carr said of moving the ball down the field to start the third. "It was very, very important for us to come down and keep that energy I was talking about at halftime, keep that energy for our team. Our tight ends and receivers were making such big plays, and it kind of sparked everyone."
Carr's third-down pass to wide receiver Michael Crabtree for 4 yards gave the Raiders their initial first down of the game on a play from scrimmage. After Oakland reached the Denver 6-yard line, running back Latavius Murray's touchdown romp was negated by an offside penalty. However, Carr passed 11 yards to slot receiver Seth Roberts on the next play for a score, pulling the Raiders within 12-7 with 9:47 remaining in the third quarter.
Oakland missed another scoring chance later in the third after Woodson recovered a fumble by wide receiver Demaryius Thomas at the Denver 41. The Raiders were forced to punt when Broncos linebacker Shaq Barrett broke through to sack Carr for a 12-yard loss on a third-and-short play.
The Oakland defense pitched in to get the Raiders closer when Mack sacked Osweiler in the end zone, forcing a fumble that was recovered by the Denver for a safety as the Raiders closed to within three points late in the third.
Dominating possession time but unable to reach the end zone despite four possessions that went beyond the Raiders' 25-yard line, the Broncos led 12-0 at halftime, all on field goals.
The Broncos difficulties getting into the end zone were illustrated by their final possession of the first half. After Thomas' 17-yard reception gave the Denver a first-and-goal at the 2, Osweiler overthrew tight end Virgil Green in the end zone. Thomas then dropped a pass at the goal line, and Osweiler and Thomas again failed to connect on third down before McManus came on to kick a 20-yard field goal with four seconds left in the quarter.
NOTES: Raiders S Charles Woodson appeared in his 250th regular-season game, tops among active defensive players in the league. ... Rookie Raiders WR Amari Cooper did not have a reception despite being targeted eight times. He's 80 yards shy of becoming the first 1,000-yard receiver for the Raiders since Randy Moss in 2005. ... Broncos LB Von Miller stretched his streak of games with a sack to five, the longest current streak in the NFL. ... Raiders OT Austin Howard left the game in the third quarter with a knee injury.
