OAKLAND, Calif. - Two lonely, wayfaring Broncos fans in matching blue Jay Cutler
and Champ Bailey jerseys were adrift in the Black Sea on Sunday afternoon.
"You ain't (expletive)," a Raiders extremist opined to the pair.
"This is our house. Get the (expletive) out of here," another Oakland activist
recommended.
"What the (expletive) you think you doing, (expletive)? We'll kick your
(expletive)," a third Raiders supporter said.
The Broncos backers, who were attempting to walk through the concourse and wade
through the maddening crowd to their seats, could neither go on the offense nor
put up a defense against their tormentors in black and silver. They suffered in
silence and took the abuse.
Just like the Broncos.
"The Broncos don't respect us no more, haven't for years, but we're back, baby,"
said Raider Rob, a founding member of The Black Hole, Section 105, the Raiders'
version of the Broncos' old South Standers. "We got Kansas City last Sunday. Now
it is Denver's turn for pain."
It was.
The Raiders were the beneficiaries of the Broncos' ongoing outreach program.
A week previous the Broncos were ahead of the Bears 34-20 and lost. This week
the Broncos were behind to the Raiders 34-20 and lost.
The lost season.
The defeat was based on: Turnovers and No Overturn.
Cutler was charged with two interceptions - one suspicious - and one fumble.
Travis Henry also fumbled once and was a co-conspirator in the other.
The four turnovers, all on the Broncos' terrain, led directly to three
touchdowns and a field goal for the Raiders.
Twenty-four points!
That's rarely seen and absolutely obscene.
The ball escaped from Henry in the second quarter at the Broncos' 35. Oakland
recovered and scored a touchdown. A Cutler pass was picked off in the third
quarter and returned to the Denver 27. Oakland kicked a field goal. Cutler was
trying to hand off to Henry on the next possession and the two botched it for a
fumble. Oakland recovered at the Broncos' 14 and scored a touchdown. In the
fourth quarter, when the Broncos were trying to rally, Cutler's pass was - or
was not - intercepted by Fabian Washington at the Broncos' 43, and the Raiders
scored a touchdown.
Game, set, match.
"Obviously, you can't win a football game when you lose the turnover battle like
we did," said Mike Shanahan, who has been saying "obviously, you can't " a whole
lot this season."
On the final interception, Oakland ahead 27-20, the Broncos' Brandon Marshall
was fending off Washington when Cutler's pitch arrived low and inside.
Washington had the ball. Did it come cleanly into his hands or bounce off the
turf? Washington indicated it was a true interception, but what did you expect?
The Broncos were crossing their arms indicating incompletion.
The Raiders scurried to get off an offensive play, but Mike Shanahan finally
challenged the call.
Referee Tony Steratore took longer than a Jack London novel before eventually
declining to overturn the ruling.
The Raiders scoring was as inevitable as the Bears scoring, the Packers scoring
and the other three teams the Broncos lost to scoring.
You can't have 38 turnovers - more than three per game - and plan to be around
beyond the end of this month.
And you definitely can't be outscored 100-66 in the third quarter and 85-54 in
the fourth quarter and think you will win 10 or more games.
The most the Broncos can win this year is nine. The best they can hope for is to
equal last year's record.
As in the other games, Broncos limped off, were helped off, went off dazed and
damaged and already were knocked off and lying on the sideline (tight end Tony
Scheffler).
The Raiders put a bad beating on the Broncos. Harm, but no foul. They rushed for
175 yards and passed for 197 yards, and they held the Broncos to 86 yards on the
ground and 214 yards in the air. And the Broncos didn't add to their pathetic
sack total of 23.
Oakland even threw JaMarcus Russell at the Broncos in the second quarter, and
the No. 1 pick overall, who had not appeared all season, threw at the Broncos
immediately. He was 4-of-7 for 56 yards, then sat back down as one of the
Baldwin brothers, Josh McCown, put his brand on the untamed Broncos.
The Broncos have scored 20 or fewer points in seven games. They have given up 34
or more in five games. And the special teams remained reekingly bad. They began
their first three drives after kickoffs at the 17 and the 14 twice. No deposits,
no returns.
The two young fans from Denver must have sneaked out the back door of the
stadium. The Broncos slinked off into the night. Everybody in a Broncos jersey
was treated like an expletive in Oakland.
Costly mistakes
The Broncos had four turnovers Sunday, leading to 24 Raiders points:
SECOND QUARTER
Travis Henry fumbles, Raiders recover at Broncos' 35: Raiders score touchdown
for 14-7 lead.
THIRD QUARTER
Jay Cutler throws interception, returned to Broncos' 27: Raiders kick field goal
for 17-7 lead.
Cutler fumbles, Raiders recover at Broncos' 12: Raiders score touchdown for 24-7
lead.
FOURTH QUARTER
Cutler throws interception at own 43: Raiders score touchdown for 34-20 lead.
