Trailing 14-0, the Broncos’ offense had reached the red zone in Monday night’s season opener. It was early in the third quarter, still plenty of time to rally.

A nifty 7-yard carry by Phillip Lindsay gave the Broncos a first down at the Oakland 6. Time to use Royce Freeman as a battering ram? Maybe Courtland Sutton or Noah Fant on a fade route? Possibly Emmanuel Sanders on a quick slant?

Um, no.

Wide left were Sutton, Fant, receiver DaeSean Hamilton, left tackle Garett Bolles and right tackle Eljiah Wilkinson, forming a creative five-man wall in front of Freeman. Quarterback Joe Flacco lateraled to Freeman, who was stopped for no gain by linebacker Vontze Burfict, who wasn’t accounted for. The Broncos settled for a field goal in an eventual 24-16 loss.

It was that kind of opener for the Broncos: The Raiders were always one step ahead of the Broncos.

In a new feature this year, The Denver Post will break down each Broncos position group, plus special teams and coaching, and assign a rating (1-5 scale).

Here is a review of Monday night:

Quarterbacks (2.5)

Flacco was 21-of-31 passing for 268 yards and one touchdown. A positive for the Broncos is that he was able to stretch the field with good throw placement to allow his receivers to make post-catch yards. The Broncos had six completions of at least 20 yards. Two poor throws stood out — behind receiver DaeSean Hamilton on second-and-1 in the right flat (no gain) and a low five-yard incomplete pass to tight end Fant on third-and-3 from his 12-yard line. Semi-concerning is Flacco taking two coverage sacks (4.13 and 5.64 seconds). The Raiders rushed at least five players on eight of his 38 drop-backs (21.1 percent).

Running backs (3)

The work distribution is likely what the Broncos envision. Phillip Lindsay played 34 of 58 snaps and had 11 carries (for 43 yards) and four catches; Freeman played 30 snaps and had 10 carries (for 56 yards) and one catch. Devontae Booker is officially on the team for insurance (one snap). Lindsay was occasionally deployed out wide, but the Raiders countered with a defensive back. He showed his usual toughness, bouncing off tacklers, including six yards after contact on a nine-yard run and a terrific blitz pick-up when left guard Dalton Risner’s attention was on another rusher. Freeman had a 26-yard run in which he made Burfict miss and dragged cornerback Gareon Conley for several yards.

Receivers/tight ends (2.5)

The final rating is brought down by Hamilton’s dropped touchdown catch, which would have cut Oakland’s lead to 14-10, and Fant’s opening-game issues. First, the positive: Sutton (57 snaps) had a career-high 120 yards and showed his progress by working the middle of the field, which gives him post-catch freedom. On four of his catches, he had 22, six, 11 and three yards after the catch. Sanders (57 snaps) was slow to be involved in the offense, but drew a penalty on third-and-10, had catches of 53 and 22 yards and a one-yard touchdown. The tight end position is led by Fant, period. He played 52 snaps, far ahead of Jeff Heuerman (21) and Troy Fumagalli (10). Fant was called for two penalties and booked for two “bad” run plays (gain of less than two yards). He needs to be more physical and use better technique as a blocker.

Offensive line (3)

The pass protection held up — Flacco wasn’t knocked down aside from the three sacks. On Flacco’s drop-backs, the only lineman booked was fill-in right tackle Elijah Wilkinson, who was dusted by defensive end Benson Mayowa in 2.32 seconds (inside move). Right guard Ron Leary had a tough first half (two penalties). In his debut, left guard Dalton Risner pulled right to space and blocked Burfict to spring Freeman’s 26-yard carry. Risner and center Connor McGovern were booked for 1/2 “bad” run play apiece. It was a clean game by Bolles at tackle, aside from a declined penalty, as he showed good balance/power in detouring the edge rushers outside and away from Flacco. Ja’Wuan James left after 10 snaps (knee); he was caught up in traffic on the play before his exit.

Defensive line (1.5)

This sums up the opening-night performance by the line: Reserve nose tackle Mike Purcell (17 of 58 snaps) flashed more than the starters. Purcell drew a holding penalty and had one run “stuff” (gain of fewer than two yards). Derek Wolfe, Shelby Harris and Adam Gotsis played 49, 43 and 33 snaps, respectively. Not that the line was pushed back, but they didn’t push forward, either, allowing the Raiders to churn out short gains that led to manageable third downs.

Linebackers (1.5)

Nothing cooking for Von Miller and Bradley Chubb on the pass-rushing front. No sacks. No knockdowns. No pressures. Miller played 56 snaps (one missed tackle) and Chubb 52 (two missed tackles). Chubb’s only play of note was a batted down pass. At inside linebacker, Josey Jewell played every snap and made a team-high 14 tackles (one missed tackle). Signed a week before, Corey Nelson started alongside Jewell and played 49 snaps (one missed tackle). Nelson gave up too much ground, allowing Josh Jacobs to start a 28-yard catch and run (five Broncos missed tackles). Rookies Malik Reed (five) and Justin Hollins (four) subbed for Miller/Chubb.

Secondary (1)

Carr went 22-of-26 passing for 259 yards. Cornerback Isaac Yiadom was picked on in the first half (6 of 6 for 103 yards allowed). On third-and-1, Fangio put 10 men in the box, leaving Yiadom in man coverage against Tyrell Williams. Caught flat-footed, Yiadom let Williams run a post for 43 yards. The Raiders were having too much fun with Yiadom to challenge cornerback Chris Harris. Safety Kareem Jackson had to play some nickel and did well — he had two pass break-ups and allowed two completions for only 11 yards. Safety Justin Simmons played every snap.

Special teams (2)

The return game was non-existent because of circumstances (five kickoff touchbacks), kicker Brandon McManus was 3 of 4 on field goals (makes of 26, 26 and 39 and a 64-yard miss), punter Colby Wadman averaged a solid 45.3-yard net on three attempts. Trailing 21-9 in the fourth quarter, the Broncos allowed a 72-yard kick return by Dwayne Harris. Booker took a horrible angle from the far side, Keishawn Bierria couldn’t shed his block, Alexander Johnson was flat-footed and McManus missed a desperation tackle. The Raiders made it 24-9 six plays later.

Coaching (1.5)

Defense: As the play-caller, Fangio admitted Tuesday he should have given Yiadom more over-the-top safety help when it became clear he was struggling, but why not give De’Vante Bausby a shot? And with the pass rush impotent, a six-man pressure might have forced Carr’s hand. Offense: Calling a jet sweep to a tight end (Fant) lost five yards, a lousy start to Rich Scangarello’s play-calling debut. He deserves credit for making sure Sutton was a big part of the plan, but needs to get Sanders involved earlier.