The first one, overthrown in triple coverage. The second one, thrown into a tight window. The third one, off his backfoot. And the fourth one, desperation. 

Those were Drew Lock’s four interceptions Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, with each playing a role in the Denver Broncos’ 37-12 loss. Lock, 24, has now thrown 10 interceptions and only seven touchdowns this season. 

“I just didn’t put the ball in our receiver’s hands. I put it in (the Raiders’) hands,” Lock said. “There could have been some better plays there by me, without a doubt.”

‘Nobody’s happy about it’: Broncos crushed by Raiders 37-12 as turnovers, abysmal second half dooms Denver

Lock was 23 of 47 for 257 yards, one touchdown and four interceptions, resulting in a 37.3 passer rating — his second lowest of the year behind only a 34.3 performance against New England in Week 6. 

One of Lock’s best drives Sunday came on the final possession of the second quarter when he found K.J. Hamler for a 27-yard completion and Tim Patrick for 23 yards, setting Denver up with a first and goal and a chance to take a lead into halftime. But after his own nullified touchdown run due to a holding call on Noah Fant, Lock threw arguably his most costly interception of the day trying to hit a well-covered Jerry Jeudy.

“They gave us a tight fit on that window to Jerry,” Lock said of the play. “The safety did drive on it and made a good play on it. It was a ball you could throw to the back.”

Raiders 37, Broncos 12 | By the Numbers

Lock’s other three interceptions were similar issues where he just made the wrong read or forced the ball into a bad situation. 

It didn’t help that Lock was under pressure most of the game, sacked twice and hit seven times. He took two big hits in the second quarter that appeared to affect him the rest of the game as he winced in pain several times. Backup Brett Rypien even started warming up toward the end of the first half.

“This organization doesn’t pay me — this fan base doesn’t cheer us on for me to quit on anything,” Lock said. “They’ll have to carry me off the field for me to come off.” 

After the game, coach Vic Fangio was asked if there was any thought to benching Lock either because of injury or performance, to which Fangio gave a straightforward answer. 

“We’re committed to Drew and the more he can play, the better he’ll be,” Fangio said. “He’s got to fight through this like most young quarterbacks do at some point in their career and we’re going to continue to play him.”

With only seven games remaining in Lock’s second season as the Broncos’ quarterback, the Missouri product and former second-round pick has a lot still to prove if he wants to stay in Denver long term.

In the five games he played last year he threw for 1,020 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions with a 64.1 completion percentage. This season, in seven games played, he’s thrown for 1,497 yards, seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions with a 55.1 completion percentage. 

Broncos notebook | Raiders missed chances to make blowout even more lopsided

Lock, though, feels like he’s heading in the right direction. He also acknowledges he can grow in many areas. 

And no matter the result of these final seven games, Lock is not one who will shy away from the challenge.

“There’s a lot of areas I feel like I’m taking steps forward,” Lock said. “But when you play in the NFL and you play quarterback, there’s a lot of areas that eventually pop up that probably weren’t talked about the week before or even the week before — there’s just a lot of stuff that goes into playing this position. I have to keep learning and keep balancing the good plays and the bad plays.”