It was a chippy game, filled with penalties throughout. But, in the end, the Raiders picked up right where they left off against their AFC West foe. Oakland was 6-0 against the division last season and are now 1-0 in 2011.
Darren McFadden was impressive all night, running the ball 22 times for 150 yards, including a 47-yard scamper that set up what proved to be the game-winning touchdown — a one-yard quarterback sneak from Jason Campbell. While his lack of a touchdown on the evening may be disappointing to fantasy owners out there, it's clear that the Raiders are going to try to ride out the McFadden-Bush combo that was so effective last season.
Broncos fans will undoubtedly shout for Tim Tebow each time Kyle Orton struggles. I can only hope you all don't shout for a new writer to bring you live blog coverage as we move forward.
But it's been fun, Week 1 is in the books, 16 more to go.
Fourth quarter, 3:43, Raiders 23-20: A drive after the Denver crowd was starting to chant for Tim Tebow, Kyle Orton made some big throws to get the Broncos down the field and into the end zone, essentially keeping them in the game.
Orton orchestrated a 12-play, 80-yard drive en route to hitting paydirt. Denver ran the no huddle for most of the drive before huddling up upon entering the red zone. Now the Denver D will need to come up with a big stop to ensure they'll have another chance on offense.
Fourth quarter, 7:39, Raiders 23-13: Three plays, three yards and the ball is headed back into the hands of the Broncos. They'll take over at the 20-yard line after Shane Lechler boomed a 77-yard punt, the longest of his NFL career, into the end zone for a touchback.
It looks like there was an emphasis on kicking the ball with some serious intensity this offseason for the Raiders. Or perhaps it's that mile-high air…OK, I'll stop.
Fourth quarter, 9:17, Raiders 23-13: Both teams traded penalties on their most recent drive. The Broncos were pushed back 10 yards because of holding, but they gained it back and then some on a 26-yard pass interference call against Oakland.
Still, no big deal, though. Orton was sacked for a 9-yard loss and then fired two passes that were both nearly picked off.
The Tim Tebow chants are in full effect in Denver. Is it time?
Fourth quarter, 12:33, Raiders 23-13 A huge 47-yard run by Darren McFadden put the ball at the Denver 1, and Jason Campbell kept it himself on the next play, plowing ahead for the score.
A huge mistake by Orton set that one up and may, in the end, cost Denver the game.
McFadden has been picking up where he left off tonight, compiling 147 yards on the ground.
Fourth quarter, 14:11, Raiders 16-13: The Broncos' drive started off nicely, with Eric Decker showing he can be a nice little weapon for the Denver receiving corps with a 23-yard reception. But Kyle Orton then dropped the ball on his next drop-back, allowing the Raiders to scoop it up and take over.
I'm not one for blaming the conditions, but they may have played a factor on that play, as the ball looked like it simply slipped out of Orton's hand.
Third quarter, 0:15, Raiders 16-13: The Raiders went three-and-out after picking up only four yards. The Broncos go to work at their own 42 with the end of the quarter looming.
Third quarter, 1:55, Raiders 16-13: The Broncos were just given gift after gift, but they treated each like a spoiled brat, letting the Raiders off the hook (cue the Dennis Green references).
Oakland's lack of discipline is beyond detrimental at this point. It's quite amusing. After a 15-yard unnecessary roughness call, the Broncos failed to capitalize on the next three plays. But on the third play, an incomplete pass that would've brought up a fourth-down situation, the Raiders were flagged for two penalties, one of which was a 15-yard roughing the passer call. That gave the Broncos' drive new life, but again Denver was unable to punch the ball into the end zone. Instead, the Broncos settled for a 30-yard Matt Prater field goal.
The big stop for the Raiders came from Richard Seymour, who sacked Orton for a seven-yard loss after Denver had gotten to the Oakland 5.
Third quarter, 6:51, Raiders 16-3: The Broncos had a chance to really seize momentum, forcing the Raiders into a third-and-8 situation. But Campbell found Heyward-Bey on a hitch route for a 14-yard gain and a new set of downs.
Denver eventually regrouped and forced Oakland to punt after eight plays and 31 yards, though. Decker was hoping to show off some more magic, but he was tripped up after a return of about three yards.
Orton's group takes over on its own 11.
Third quarter, 12:31, 16-10: Apparently Eric Decker isn't impressed with Janikowski's record-tying boot. He decided to provide some special teams heroics of his own, returning a punt 90 yards for a score.
Jason Campbell found Jacoby Ford for a 12-yard gain to open up the second half, but the Raiders then went three-and-out on the new set of downs. Lechler's punt travelled 57 yards, but, fortunately for the Broncos, Decker travelled 90.
Suddenly, we've got ourselves a game. This upcoming drive will be a big one, as it could dictate the momentum moving forward.
Halftime, Raiders 16-3: Talk about a way to end the first half. No, it wasn't an all-out brawl, which seemed likely at times throughout the first half. Instead, Oakland kicker Sebastian Janikowski capped off the first half with a 63-yard field goal, tying an NFL record.
While I'd like to credit that mile-high air in an effort to make me seem even more intelligent, seeing as how I alluded to it earlier, this field goal is all on Janikowski. It's his third career field goal of 60 or more yards, showing why he's known for his monster leg. In fact, Janikowski booted a field goal of about 70 yards in pregame warmups. This one was for 63, though, which is a pretty cool feat.
Second quarter, 0:24, Raiders 13-3: Nothing beats when there's a false start or an offsides call and each member of the offensive and defensive lines starts pointing at each other. OK, a lot beats it, but it's still pretty amusing — kind of like responding to an accusation with "NO SUH!"
Anyways, the reason for my rambling is the amount of penalties being called in this game. Oakland has been flagged eight times for 55 yards, while Denver has received seven penalties for 56 yards — you couple all of that downtime with a few cups of coffee and your mind begins to wander.
The Raiders were able to get down all the way to the Denver 3, but were forced to settle for a 21-yard field goal by Janikowski. The Broncos came out aggressively on the ensuing drive, moving the ball 33 yards. But Matt Giordano ended up intercepting Orton's throw intended for Brandon Lloyd. The play was reviewed and was upheld. We'll see how aggressive Oakland decides to be on the upcoming drive with only 24 seconds left.
Second quarter, 4:12, Raiders 10-3: More plays, more chippiness, more flags. I could stop there and call it an update, seeing as how that's what the last drive — and most of the drives thus far, in fact — consisted of. But I'll elaborate a little bit.
Orton seems to have a good rapport going with Brandon Lloyd, hooking up with him on a pair of throws and targeting him with two others. This looks like a carry over from last season, when Lloyd led the NFL with 1,448 yards. But after seven plays and 34 yards, Matt Prater provided his own boomerang kick, only his didn't result in three points like Janikowski's boot.
Prater's 56-yard field goal attempt sailed wide, wide, wide right. Must be that mile-high air. Then again, what do I know? I'm no meteorologist.
Second quarter, 6:27, Raiders 10-3: The Raiders nearly started the drive off with a bang, as Campbell aired one out to Darrius Heyward-Bey along the left sideline. Heyward-Bey came up with it, but he was out of bounds when doing so.
After two unsuccessful rush attempts, Shane Lechler came on to punt out of his own end zone. He booted it 65 yards, where it was fielded by Eric Decker and returned for 16 yards. Factor in a 15-yard unnecessary roughness penalty and the return is pretty much washed out. The Broncos go to work at their own 28.
Second quarter, 8:05, Raiders 10-3: Orton took a couple shots down the field on that last drive, most notably to Brandon Lloyd down the left sideline. But he was unsuccessful on his attempts.
The Raiders will be backed up at their own 2-yard line, though, after a fantastic punt by Britton Colquitt, who had one of his punts blocked earlier in the game. It was a punt that probably should be been fielded, but then again, hindsight's 20/20. It was a 65-yard boot when all was said and done.
Second quarter, 11:14, Raiders 10-3: With the rain coming down in Denver, Shane Lechler faced a tough hold right there, but he was able to get it down in order for Sebastian Janikowski to convert on a 37-yard field goal attempt. The kick looked perfect at first before really hooking late, leading me to believe it would have doubled back around like a boomerang had it not run out of real estate. Either way, though, it's three points.
It's also worth noting that this game has been very chippy thus far. I had to ensure that I wasn't inadvertently watching Monday Night Raw. But the lack of men in tights and a still-intact Spanish announce table leads me to believe that I am, in fact, watching football rather than the WWE.
Second quarter, 13:23, Raiders 7-3: The Broncos again gave the football back to the Raiders in their own zone. Moreno coughed it up on a run up the gut. He was initially ruled down by contact before the ball came loose, but after further review, the ball clearly came out before Moreno's knee was down.
This a big season for Moreno, as he's failed to live up to the hype that's accompanied him since getting selected 12th overall in the 2009 draft. But, simply put, fumbles are bad. I don't need to tell you guys that, though.
Second quarter, 13:28, Raiders 7-3: A lot of laundry's been flying around the field already in this game. But Darren McFadden was able to bail out the Raiders with a nice first-down gain on third-and-13, setting up an eventual touchdown score.
After the 20-yard gain by Run DMC, fullback Marcel Reece showed that he's also a major weapon in the Oakland backfield. After an 11-yard pickup on the ground, Reece was the recipient of a 3-yard TD strike from Jason Campbell four plays later. It was the third play of the second quarter.
First quarter, 3:02, Broncos 3-0: A big play by the Raiders' special teams early. Darryl Blackstock comes up with a blocked punt, which will give the Raiders the ball in good field position.
Denver's rookie right tackle Orlando Franklin was called for a 10-yard holding penalty, which backed the Broncos up into a corner early in the drive. After an incomplete pass attempt and a five-yard gain by Knowshon Moreno, Orton delivered a strike to Brandon Lloyd with the Raiders bringing a heavy blitz. The 12-yard pickup wasn't enough for the first, though, and ultimately set up the punt and the block.
First quarter, 5:48, Broncos 3-0: Denver's defense should be much improved this season with the addition of Von Miller via the draft and the return of Elvis Dumervil, who missed all of last season with a torn pectoral. Dumervil, of course, led the NFL with 17 sacks two seasons ago.
That Broncos D has looked good early, as they forced Oakland to punt on its second drive. Jason Campbell was forced to move around a lot in the backfield, which is exactly what Denver will want to continue to see going forward.
First quarter, 9:55, Broncos 3-0: After three pass attempts only amount to five yards, Matt Prater booted a 28-yard field goal to give Denver an early 3-0 lead. It's nice to get on the board first, but given the golden opportunity the Broncos were handed, it's certainly a let down.
First quarter, 10:50, 0-0: Well, the Raiders are a team that's talent is too often outshadowed by its mistakes. That's the case here early.
On the first play from scrimmage for their offense, the Raiders' Jacoby Ford fumbled after getting lit up by rookie Von Miller, which will give Kyle Orton's group the ball deep in Oakland territory.
First quarter, 11:00, 0-0: Kyle Orton looked pretty good on his first drive of the game, going 3-for-3 for 38 yards. But Oakland stuffed Knowshon Moreno on his three rush attempts and the Broncos were forced to punt it away.
A 46-yard punt coupled with a 10-yard penalty means Jason Campbell and Co. will start at their own 10-yard line.
The penalty might be the Raiders' first penalty of the season, but it certainly won't be the last. They were a very undisciplined team last season, something that has to changed under new head coach Hue Jackson.
10:15 p.m.: As the Pats-Dolphins game winds down, the Broncos and Raiders are set to take over on Monday night. So for that, I'd like to take this opportunity to wish both Kyle Orton and Jason Campbell the best of luck because no matter what kind of game they have, it won't hold a candle to the clinic that Tom Brady's put on in Miami.
Then again, that shouldn't be all too surprising.
I'll also throw my prediction for tonight out there at this point. Feel free to leave yours in the comments below.
The Raiders dominated the AFC West last season, but ultimately missed the playoffs because, well, you also have to beat teams outside of your division and they consistently struggled to accomplish that feat. I'm going to go out on a limb and say the Raiders will not go undefeated within the division again, and I'll also go out on a limb and say that their first loss will be tonight — assuming there are enough limbs remaining.
I'm going with the Broncos at home under new head coach John Fox, although I do have some concerns about Denver's ability to stop Oakland's running game. They couldn't do it last season, as each team was basically on opposite ends of the spectrum when it came to Oakland's solid rushing attack and Denver's poor rush defense. So, essentially, I'm going with a hunch in this one, which I don't advise anyone to do. In this case, though, what's the worst that could happen?
But we're ready for football, so I'll stop babbling. Let's go!
9 a.m. ET: While fans in New England and Miami are pumped and jacked for Monday night's season opener, it will only serve as an appetizer for those faithful Denver and Oakland fans who await their team's season opener — the last game of Week 1.
The Broncos will play host, welcoming Oakland to the Mile-High City, where they fell to the Raiders in a 59-14 blowout in Week 7 last season.
Darren McFadden totaled 196 yards of offense (165 rushing, 31 receiving) and four touchdowns (three rushing, one receiving) in that game, while Denver turned the ball over three times. Oakland had 508 total yards of offense to Denver's 240. The Raiders also won their Week 15 matchup, 39-23, behind a two-touchdown effort from running back Michael Bush.
The Broncos (4-12) were 1-5 against AFC West opponents last season, while the Raiders (8-8) were a perfect 6-0. Kyle Orton will lead the Broncos into the game to try and give the Raiders a blemish right from the get-go.
Kickoff is set for 10:15 p.m. ET. Check back throughout the course of the day for updates, and perhaps other random thoughts that simply aren't popping into my head right now but very well could in due time — those, I promise, you won't want to miss.