Sports

The Raiders and Broncos are tied 7-7 at halftime.

Denver has outgained Las Vegas 116 to 112. The Raiders, though, had a 32-yard run by Ashton Jeanty to the Denver 30 called back by a holding call on Jack Bech. They had a 31-yard catch-and-run for a touchdown by Tre Tucker negated by an offensive pass interference penalty on Dont'e Thornton Jr.

The Raiders also hurt themselves by going for it on fourth-and-5 from the Denver 38, and safety Talanoa Hufanga sacked Bo Nix for a 9-yard loss when Raheem Mostert failed to pick up the blitz. Smith chewed out his running back coming off the field and again on the sideline, with Kenny Pickett playing peacemaker, before the two made nice.

The Broncos used the good field position for their initial first down — which came with 5:50 left in the half — and for their first points. The big play came when Bo Nix hit rookie Pat Bryant for a 44-yard gain to the 5, which set up Troy Franklin's 5-yard touchdown reception.

The Broncos had four three-and-outs to start the game before the touchdown drive. They ended the half with an interception as Kyu Blu Kelly picked Nix with 27 seconds left in the half.

Nix is 9-of-15 for 101 yards with a touchdown and an interception.

Geno Smith is 12-of-18 for 94 yards. He has taken five sacks, including 1.5 by Nik Bonitto. Brock Bowers has one catch for 31 yards, and Jeanty has 10 carries for 35 yards and a touchdown.

Punter A.J. Cole has been the Raiders' MVP with punts that went out of bounds at the 2 and the 1, backing up Denver. The home fans have booed Broncos punter Jeremy Crawshaw off the field, as he has only a 38.8-yard net average, which included a 30-yarder in the swirling wind.

Raiders right guard Jackson Powers-Johnson injured his ankle on the second play of the second quarter.

The team lists him as questionable to return, but it did not look good.

Powers-Johnson appeared to roll his left ankle while blocking John Franklin-Myers. He stayed on the ground, writhing in pain.

Powers-Johnson needed help off the field. He briefly went into the sideline medical tent before taking a golf cart back to the training room.

Alex Cappa has replaced him at right guard.

The Raiders already were without starting left tackle Kolton Miller.

Las Vegas leads Denver 7-0.

Graham Gano joined the NFL in 2009. Since 2018, when sports betting became legal beyond Nevada, he has noticed a change.

"I hear everyone else's frustration -- media, fans. Shoot, ever since sports betting started happening, I get people telling me to kill myself every week," Gano said Thursday, via Jordan Raanan of ESPN.com. "'Cause I'll hit a kick that loses them money. I'll miss a kick and it loses them money. It was the other day that someone told me to get cancer and die. I mean, that stuff is part of it."

Gano has missed time with multiple injuries this season. He's likely to not kick on Sunday due to a neck issue. He hasn't practiced this week, and the team is preparing Younghoe Koo to kick at Chicago.

"Just playing this long, you're used to it by now," Gano said. "But with that being said, I see everyone's frustration. And I'm frustrated too. I just want to play ball. Just constantly not being able to is tough. Doing everything I can to try to come back and play. That is my hope."

Despite his hope, it's safe to say nothing will change. In this age of legalized, normalized, and heavily monetized sports wagering, the players have become the cubes on the craps table, the steel ball on the roulette wheel.

"Nobody wants to hear that stuff," Gano said. "I think everyone in the locker room knows if you have something going on to talk to somebody about it. I hope that everybody in here would. Nobody wants to hear stuff like that. I just want to make the fans happy, help the team win games and so not being able to do that is hard."

The fans don't care. They want their bets to cash. It's not about the game. It's about winning the wager.

And the NFL has made its bet. It's chasing the money, too. Which only makes it harder for the men who play the game.