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Vs. Oakland Raiders (W 13-3) Our old pals, the Oakland Raiders were in town. Despite an offense revolving around exactly TWO players, the Raiders were allowed to hang around until well into the fourth quarter. With about six minutes left, RB Lamont Jordan fumbled and it was recovered by Denver's Michael Myers. Lamont, you dummy! The nearly 300 lbs Myers then tip-toed down the sideline for about 5 yards, as if he was on his way to a touchdown. That was the Raiders' last gasp, though. Jordan was seen fuming on the sideline, punching the ground, eating towels and talking to himself. It was a bad night to be the tray table on the Raiders' return flight, as I'm sure Jordan pummeled the poor defenseless inanimate object on the way home. The Raiders had threatened to make it interesting just before the half. Once again, it was another re-run from last week, as Champ Bailey picked off Andrew Walter's pass intended for Randy Moss. For the second week in a row, Bailey had single-handedly saved a touchdown in the redzone. The Raiders also failed on a long field goal attempt by Sebastian Janikowski. Janikowski kicked a curve that would have made Barry Zito proud. Immediately follwing the miss, Jake Plummer rolled out and found Javon Walker for 55 yards. The ensuing play, a true rarity, as Tatum Bell scored the only rushing touchdown of the season in Denver. Touchdowns have become about as abundant as the lynx, this season. At this degree, three TD's might lead the team at season's end. Aside from Walker's long aerial haul, the Broncos' offense was about as exciting as a Lyle Lovett concert. Run 4 or 5 yards, throw a short pass. Rod Smith caught his lone pass of the night on a faked end-around play. Smith has now caught a pass in every Broncos game played since the Carter administration, passing Haven Moses for that honor. Through 11 seasons, taped ankles, bad weather, crappy quarterbacks and controlled bludgeonings, Smith has had weekly meetings with the football. Defense once again ruled the field and has become the biggest story of the early season. They've now given up ONE touchdown. The first team since the 1934 Detroit Lions to surrender one 1 or less in five games. 1934 may have been before the widespread acceptance of the forward pass, so consider that. Indirectly, I suppose this means that the Broncos' defense can now hang with guys like Ernie Nevers, Bronko Nagurski and Ace Parker. Some fans may complain about the lack of points, but their seems to be a different aura about the team this year. They'll control the game, but won't blow you out. A marked difference was displayed on the game's final series. The Broncos were running the clock out, inside the Raiders' 20. You'd think a Mike Shanahan team would run a few more plays and rub the Raiders' noses in dogshit. Nope...they had the win and were content, thus a simple kneel-down. The Raiders, meanwhile, stumbled home with an 0-5 mark. Their usual 13 penalties didn't help. By my count, this was only the second time the Broncos have beaten an Art Shell Raiders team. The last time was on the opening night of the 1992 season, a game known as "the Arthur Marshall game". Otherwise, Shell's Raiders had owned the Broncos in his previous reign (1989-1994). Now they're known as the NFL's worst team, but still have wacky characters like pro wrestler lookalike Robert Gallery and a Kenny Rogers lookalike in defensive coordinator Rob Ryan. You could make a case that the rest of the team resembles...well, the city of Oakland. Things are that bad for the silver n' black.
FINAL CUTS ...||...Kyle Johnson reportedly sprained his ankle in the second half. Which explains why we saw more of Cecil Sapp. ...||...The Donkies might be on to something with this blue pants thing. The Titans also wore blue-on-blue for the first time in their history and won their first game of the season. Unless San Diego decides to go blue-on-blue, the Broncos shouldn't fall victim to the BLUE PANTS virus this season. ...||...After winning the AL pennant, Jim Leyland, Brandon Inge and a few more Detorit Tigers were at Sunday's Lions game. Rumor is, if they'd hadn't won the pennant, they would've received season tickets to the Lions. ...||...The Week Six "my boy" award: DT Michael Myers. Simply for that tip-toe "lookout ya'll, I'm gonna' score a touchdown" fumble recovery. Comment about this article. Contact The Asshole Who Wrote This!
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