DENVER — The craziest thing happened at Sports Authority Field on Sunday. The Oakland Raiders slipped on their pads, donned their uniforms and summoned the fortitude to play. It was a lot for them after having lost quarterback Derek Carr to a broken leg last week, but since his backup, Matt McGloin, was available, the Raiders figured they might as well give this football thing another try.

The outcome, a 24-6 loss to the Denver Broncos, reinforced Carr’s value. It corroborated all that the Raiders had tried to dispel over the past week, after Carr’s injury ruined his superlative season, upended the A.F.C. hierarchy and dampened a renaissance delayed by years of mismanagement and futility.

What had been an opportunity for the Raiders to prove that they could compartmentalize and that their defense and running game could bolster McGloin and mitigate Carr’s absence instead devolved into a teamwide malfunction. In the first half, Oakland recorded three first downs, ceded 255 yards — a ghastly 7.7 per play — and committed nine penalties. The Raiders finished 2 of 11 on third down, had three turnovers and managed a season-low 221 total yards.

Asked if Carr’s injury had affected the Raiders’ morale, Coach Jack Del Rio said he understood how the team’s performance could prompt that kind of question.