NFL nation reporters Jeff Legwold and Bill Williamson give game balls to CB Chris Harris Jr. after he secured the win with an interception return for a score in Denver's win, and to Raiders safety Charles Woodson for his two-pick day. (1:03)

OAKLAND, Calif. -- It wasn’t Peyton Manning this time.

Instead of the Oakland Raiders losing to the Denver Broncos because their defense had no answer for Manning, the Raiders' losing streak against Denver hit eight games because they couldn’t figure out the Broncos' defense.

The Raiders' offense -- though it has shown hints of electrifying ability in the early season -- fell 16-10 because it is just not ready to hang with the best defensive teams in the league. Oakland dropped to 2-3, three games behind the 5-0 Broncos in the AFC West.

The painfully ironic truth is Manning improved his record against Oakland as a member of the Broncos to 7-0 with his poorest game against Oakland in that stretch. Manning, who completed 75 percent of his passes against Oakland in his first six meetings while with Denver, was intercepted twice. All the Broncos would muster on offense was three field goals.

Yes, the Raiders soiled their best defensive performance of the season with an offensive showing stifled by Denver’s brilliant defense. The dagger was a fourth-quarter, 74-yard interception return for a touchdown by Denver cornerback Chris Harris Jr. off Oakland quarterback Derek Carr.

The Broncos' defense, including Malik Jackson, was too much for Derek Carr and the Raiders' young offense. AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez

“It’s very frustrating,” Oakland left tackle Donald Penn said. “The defense played their butt off. They did a great job, man. We’ve got to be able to pick it up. We go into other games and score a lot of points, and this game we only score 10. It’s tough with our defense playing so well. We’ve got to find a game where we’re both playing well at the same time. That’s why we’ve got this bye week. We’re going to go sit down, check the first five weeks and just try to get better.”

Sunday provided another reminder that this young offense is a work in progress. The unit is the best thing the Raiders have going, with young talent that has already made its presence felt in 2015.

It will do so again, but it’s clear a strong performance on a weekly basis is far from guaranteed. The Raiders' offense will continue to have growing pains.

The Oakland offense was terrific in victories against Baltimore and Cleveland. Carr, running back Latavius Murray and rookie receiver Amari Cooper were all explosive and showed major glimpses of what could be a bright future. However, as was the case in a loss to Chicago last week, the trio didn’t make much of an impact Sunday.

Carr, who was good in the first quarter of the season against the blitz (an area he struggled last season as a rookie), had trouble against Denver’s ferocious blitz package Sunday, especially in the second half. According to ESPN Stats & Information, Carr completed 29 percent of his passes when blitzed in the second half. Harris’ interception was on one of those plays.

Murray had 39 yards on 13 carries and, for the second straight week, was not on the field in the fourth quarter. Cooper, who had back-to-back 100-yard receiving yards in Weeks 2 and 3, had a combined 96 receiving yards the past two weeks.

“We didn’t get enough points,” Carr said. “As an offense, we just need more points. Development and all that, I don’t even think about that stuff. I just try and watch the film, and I’ll just try and grow from it. Where can I be better situationally? Where can I be better, so on and so forth? I don’t look at it from a development standpoint. I just say, man, because I want to win, and we can. We’ve shown that we can. I just try and correct it and move on to the next one.”

And learn from playing against a premier defense.