OAKLAND, Calif. -- The Denver Broncos team that left Oakland Coliseum on Sunday night was much different than the one that arrived a few hours earlier.

The one that rolled in on the buses in the late-afternoon sun, greeted by plenty of one-finger salutes from the Oakland Raiders' faithful, was in a tie for first place in the AFC West. It was a team that carried itself like it was still -- blemishes and all -- on track for a sixth consecutive division title and in the championship conversation.

The Broncos team that left the emotionally charged rival stadium was battered and grumpy, now in third place in the AFC West, with plenty of bruised bodies to go with some bruised egos after a 30-20 loss to the Raiders.

The Raiders' offense managed to gash the Broncos for 218 yards on the ground. AP Photo/Ben Margot

"You've got to take a little of that humble pie," Broncos linebacker DeMarcus Ware said. "We didn't play a good game -- offensively, defensively, special teams."

Asked if a team that has seen so much success over the past five years could digest the serving of pie it received Sunday night, Ware said: "You have no choice. We have seven games left and ... the championship isn't won yet and these are the types of games where if you play this way, you're going to end up with the same result."

Stack it all up any way you'd like, but what it means is that folks are soon going to find out what the Broncos are about.

It's clear quarterback Trevor Siemian's left shoulder was hurting again as a result of some of the hits he took. He had an extended stint in the trainers' room following the game. The Broncos inability to run the ball has thrown their entire offense into neutral, at best.

The Broncos opened Sunday night's contest with four three-and-outs, the first time they've opened a game like that since before Peyton Manning signed in 2012.

"Coming in here, it's always really tough early in the game from an emotion and noise standpoint," said Broncos coach Gary Kubiak. "We didn't weather that storm very good, and we couldn't get the ball out of our own end.

"Hell, they played good, and we didn't play good enough to win in any phase."

Though that sets the table for the clichéd offense-defense rift, before the Broncos' defense can grumble about the offense, it needs to stop somebody from running the ball. Denver will now have what happened Sunday night coming at them for several weeks.

Before it was a big run here, a big run there for the Broncos' defense, but the signs for something more troubling were visible. On Sunday, it all came crashing down, as the Raiders pounded out 218 yards rushing. The Raiders controlled the tempo and held the ball for 41 minutes, 28 seconds.

The Raiders were the first team to rush for 200 yards on the Broncos since the Cincinnati Bengals did it in 2014.

Defensive end Derek Wolfe left the game with a fractured elbow.

"Missed tackles, missed assignments," Ware said.

"I tell the guys, 'Keep your poise, it's not the end of the season, we have to improve from this game.'"

Broncos cornerback Chris Harris Jr. offered his take on Sunday's performance.

"Our goal every game is to be the best defense on the field," Harris said. "And we weren't."

The challenge now -- with the prospect of Drew Brees facing the Broncos' defense in the climate-controlled dome in downtown New Orleans this Sunday -- is to avoid grousing.

One of the things that made the Broncos rare last season was no matter what happened, they always put the group first, they always had each other's back. But that's easier sometimes when you surprise people, when you do a little more than folks thought you could.

This Broncos team has plenty of expectations in tow, as rings were handed out and people got paid on both sides of the ball. The Broncos continue to show glimpses of talent. And even as bad as it was Sunday, they had made it a one-score game, at 20-13, early in the fourth quarter.

But the Broncos have four road games among their last seven outings of the season. They have two games against the Kansas City Chiefs, and they get one more crack at the Raiders. That's plenty of time for them to decide whether what happened Sunday was just a result of having a bad day or the beginning of the end in what has been a spectacular ride.

"Hell, you don't ever want one of these," Kubiak said of Sunday's loss in Oakland. "We didn't lose a championship, there's a lot of football left to play, but we have to play a hell of a lot better."