Oakland Raiders of old resurface in 2016

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- The Oakland Raiders have a sense of nostalgia.

In a return to a national stage Sunday night, the Raiders went the throwback route, dominating with their offensive and defensive fronts as if it were the 1970s again in a 30-20 win over the Denver Broncos.

The Raiders (7-2) keep their half-game lead over the Kansas City Chiefs (6-2), but more important showed they are capable of much more than simply outscoring the lesser lights of the NFL.

The Raiders had built their record with six victories (five on the road) against teams that currently have losing records. Their two losses, at home to Atlanta and Kansas City, were against teams with winning records.

Not only did the Raiders beat the Broncos, they beat them up, outrushing Denver 218-33 while prolific starting quarterback Derek Carr played more of caretaker roll, racking throws for first downs (12) rather than touchdowns (none).

Latavius Murray led the Raiders with 114 yards on 20 carries and scored on three 1-yard runs.

"I don't get caught up in numbers. I don't get caught up in stats. I care about winning," Carr said. "It was a fun thing to watch. I don't care if we run it 58 times and I throw the ball eight times."

It was easily the signature win for coach Jack Del Rio, whose team has already equaled the win total of the 2015 season when the Raiders took a step up to 7-9 after going 3-13 under Dennis Allen and interim coach Tony Sparano in 2014.

"It was a physical, physical night," Del Rio said. "A very talented front seven from Denver. They're tough to run against. Our guys really attacked it well."

Del Rio wasn't interested in ranking the victory as it pertains to other wins as Raiders head coach or that it came against Denver, a team for which he was defensive coordinator and not considered as a head coaching candidate when John Fox was dismissed.

"I think the biggest thing is to find a way to a win," Del Rio said. "I'm certainly proud of our front. We've invested a lot in our front. We've committed to being a physical team. That was a great way to illustrate that, but not much beyond that."

The Raiders compiled a time of possession advantage of 41:28 to 18:32. Denver managed just 3 of 11 third down conversions and spent much of the game trying to get out of poor field position.