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Week 13 Game Recap: Denver Broncos 20, Oakland Raiders 34
What you need to know
| Denver Broncos |
The Broncos entered the game with playoff hopes and a five game winning streak against their division rival. They left with their first loss in Oakland since 2002 and little hope to salvage a postseason berth.
The game started off on the wrong foot for Denver as the Broncos had Oakland stopped on the game's opening drive, but a running into the punter penalty gave the Raiders a second chance and led to a touchdown.
Denver was also plagued by four turnovers and an inability to stop Justin Fargas, who rumbled for 146 yards and helped Oakland to control the clock. Jay Cutler did not have a good game. Cutler finished 16 of 32 for 214 yards. He threw two interceptions and no touchdowns. Cutler was erratic and missed his targets throughout the game. Cutler was also credited with a lost fumble that resulted from a botched exchange with Travis Henry. The Broncos have now committed a turnover in 20 straight games.
Travis Henry played for the first time since week nine. Henry rushed 15 times for 49 yards and two touchdowns. However, Henry lost a fumble and dropped two passes.
Denver has not been held scoreless for 240 consecutive games. The streak dates back to a 1992 loss to the Raiders.
| Oakland Raiders |
With their victory, the Raiders have a two game winning streak for the second time this season. Oakland was powered by the strong running of Justin Fargas, who rushed for 146 yards and a score and helped the Raiders to dominate Denver in time of possession.
Josh McCown made his sixth start of the season even though he suffered from a compound dislocation of a finger on his non-throwing hand Wednesday. Despite the injury, McCown had a strong performance. He completed two thirds of his 21 passes for 141 yards and enjoyed his first three touchdown game since 2004.
Number one pick, JaMarcus Russell, made his NFL debut and played for two series. He showed an ability to run with the football and made some strong throws. He also fumbled a shotgun snap. Overall, Russell made a good first impression.
The Raiders defense came into the game ranked last in the NFL giving up more than 150 yards per game on the ground. However, Oakland held the Broncos to 86 yards rushing. Robert Thomas stripped Travis Henry to force a turnover. Chris Clemons recovered another fumble after a botched exchange from Jay Cutler to Travis Henry.
The pass defense was equally effective. Thomas Howard and Fabian Washington each intercepted a pass and the unit held Cutler to only a 50 percent completion rate.
What you ought to know
| QB Jay Cutler, Pass: 16 - 32 - 214 - 0 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 6 - 9 - 0 |
Cutler was mostly erratic in this game. He completed only 50 percent of his passes and often missed his mark. Cutler had two passes intercepted. The first was the result of a bad decision as Cutler tried to force a pass to Javon Walker in heavy coverage. The second interception came on a low throw intended for Brandon Marshall along the right sideline. Cutler has the reputation of getting lazy with his footwork and at times and was guilty of that offense on this occasion, as he did not fully step into the pass. The result was a low throw on a ball when a high pass would have been better suited to take advantage of Marshall's significant height advantage. Fabian Washington made a good play to grab the low throw.
Cutler is not afraid to run the ball when the times call for it. He ran five times for nine yards, including a tough two yard gain on a third down and one. (He also had a kneel-down for no gain to end the game.) Cutler was credited with a lost fumble when he and Travis Henry bobbled an attempted handoff.
| RB Travis Henry, Rush: 15 - 49 - 2 (2 targets) |
Henry returned from injury and played for the first time since week nine. He had modest success, gaining 49 yards on fifteen carries. Henry did score his second and third touchdowns of the season. His longest gain was for nine yards.
Henry dropped both of his targets. The second drop may have been intentional after Cutler dumped the ball off to him with time winding down. Henry did not have much room to run and would likely have been tackled in bounds.
| RB Selvin Young, Rush: 7 - 28 - 0, Rec: 2 - 17 - 0 (2 targets) |
Young returned after missing a game with a sprained knee. He ran effectively, but was banged up a couple of times during the game and did not have any action after half time. Young had runs of nine, eight, nine, and seven yards. He caught two passes for 17 yards. The first reception netted ten yards on a third down and eight play.
| RB Cecil Sapp, Rush: 1 - 0 - 0, Rec: 3 - 4 - 0 (2 targets) |
Sapp had one rushing attempt for no gain. He caught all three of his targets, but gained only four yards.
| RB Andre Hall |
Hall, who was effective when subbing for injured Broncos running backs, missed the game with an ankle injury.
| WR Brandon Marshall, Rec: 6 - 67 - 0 (10 targets) |
Marshall was targeted a game high ten times. He led the Broncos with six receptions mostly of the short variety. 32 of Marshall's yards came on one play. His other five grabs netted only 35 yards. Marshall leads NFL receivers in yardage after catch and continued that trend in this game. Marshall frequently broke tackles to gain hard fought yards. Most of the yardage on Marshall's 32 yard gain came after he spun out of a tackle and found open running room down the sideline.
Marshall was guilty of one dropped pass.
| WR Brandon Stokley, Rec: 3 - 102 - 0 (8 targets) |
Stokley had only three receptions, but made them count. Stokley was wide open on a naked bootleg for a 58 yard catch. Had Cutler been able to throw the ball farther, Stokley would have had a touchdown. However, he had to stop and wait for the ball. All of Stokley's receptions came in the second half. He was targeted three times in the first half, and was open each time, but all of Cutler's passes missed the mark. Stokley got his hands on one of the passes, but was unable to haul it in. Stokley made a great effort to snare a diving catch on a fourth down play late in the game, but Cutler's pass led him too far and he landed out of bounds.
| WR Javon Walker, Rec: 1 - 7 - 0 (4 targets) |
Walker caught only on pass for seven yards. He was targeted, but well-covered, on Jay Cutler's first interception.
| TE Tony Scheffler, Rec: 1 - 17 - 0 (2 targets) |
Scheffler caught one pass for a 17 yard gain. Cutler tried to hit him on another deep pattern, but was unsuccessful.
| TE Daniel Graham (1 targets) |
Graham was targeted only once in the game.
| PK Jason Elam 2 - 2 FG, 2 - 2 XP, 8 points |
Elam was perfect; he hit field goal attempts of 29 and 44 yards plus both of his extra point attempts.
| DEN Rush Defense |
The Broncos run defense has struggled for most of the season. The Raiders were able to exploit Denver's unit for 175 yards. Justin Fargas had a big game with 146 yards and one touchdown as Oakland was able to control the game and dominate the clock.
D.J. Williams led the unit with 13 solo tackles and three assists. Nate Webster chipped in nine solo stops and a forced fumble.
| DEN Pass Defense |
Josh McCown completed two thirds of his 21 passes for 141 yards and three touchdowns. JaMarcus Russell made his NFL debut and chipped in with 57 additional passing yards. Denver's pass unit was unable to create any turnovers or generate any sacks.
| QB Josh McCown, Pass: 14 - 21 - 141 - 3 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - 22 - 0 |
McCown started his sixth game of the season despite suffering a compound dislocation to a finger on his left hand Wednesday. McCown had the finger taped and was able to play effectively. He completed two thirds of his passes for 141 yards and had his first three touchdown game since the 2004 season. McCown made good decisions and was able to find open receivers throughout the game. McCown's most questionable decision was a pass that he threw up for grabs to Ronald Curry in the end zone. Curry was well covered on the play, but still had a chance for the ball. McCown lost a fumble on a mishandled snap. It was Oakland's only turnover.
McCown also displayed the ability to run with the football. He carried four times for 22 yards, including a designed run on a naked bootleg that fooled the defense for an eleven yard gain on a third down and two play.
| QB JaMarcus Russell, Pass: 4 - 7 - 56 - 0 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 3 - 4 - 0 |
Russell began his NFL career by playing two series in the second quarter. He showed off his strong arm on his first play. Russell ran a bootleg on the play and threw a strike to Jerry Porter for a 16 yard gain. Russell threw the ball a bit wide, but Porter did a great job to get his toes down in bounds. Russell led the Raider offense into Denver territory on both drives. The first drive stalled after he fumbled a shotgun snap on a third down play. Russell recovered, for an eight yard loss, but Sebastian Janikowski missed a 58 yard field goal attempt. Russell's second drive stalled, when Justin Fargas was stuffed on a fourth and one play.
Russell made a good first impression and may have received more playing time if Josh McCown wasn't having such a good game.
| RB Justin Fargas, Rush: 33 - 146 - 1, Rec: 2 - 18 - 0 (5 targets) |
Fargas had an impressive game. He helped the Raiders control the clock with 33 carries for 146 yards. Fargas scored his third touchdown of the season on a five yard run that helped to ice the game in the fourth quarter. Fargas set the pace of the game with 84 first half yards. During the game he had runs of 17, 19, and 29 yards.
Fargas also hauled in two passes for 18 yards, including a 13 yard screen pass that converted a third and eight into a first down. Although he appeared to be down on a play, Fargas was credited with a fumble, but Oakland retained possession.
In the past two weeks, Fargas has run for 285 yards and three touchdowns.
| RB Justin Griffith, Rec: 4 - 23 - 0 (4 targets) |
Griffith was targeted four times and corralled each pass. His best gain went for 13 yards and converted a third down into a first down during a touchdown drive.
| RB LaMont Jordan, Rush: 1 - 3 - 0 |
Jordan ran only once for three yards. He has become little more than an afterthought in the Raider offense.
| WR Jerry Porter, Rec: 5 - 49 - 1 (7 targets) |
Porter led the Raiders with five receptions. Porter's 13 yard reception was his fourth touchdown of the season and his first since week four. Porter made a beautiful catch on JaMarcus Russell's first pass. Russell's strike was a bit wide, but Porter snagged the ball and dragged his toes. Porter also made a highlight reel one-handed grab on a high throw across the middle.
| WR Ronald Curry, Rec: 3 - 34 - 0 (7 targets) |
Curry had two seven yard grabs and a 20 yard catch. He was targeted on a bomb thrown up for grabs in the end zone. Curry was able to get his hands on the ball, but was unable to come down with the pass.
| WR Tim Dwight, Rec: 1 - 15 - 1 (1 targets) |
Dwight caught a 15 yard touchdown pass on Oakland's first drive. It was his only target of the game and his first touchdown pass since 2005.
| TE Zach Miller, Rec: 3 - 58 - 1 (4 targets) |
Miller and Josh McCown appeared to have a connection. Miller was targeted four times and grabbed three of the passes for 58 yards and a touchdown. His 13 yard catch in the first half was the second touchdown of the rookie's career. Miller nearly had a second touchdown as McCown overthrew an open Miller in the end zone.
| TE John Madsen (1 targets) |
Madsen was targeted once unsuccessfully.
| PK Sebastian Janikowski 2 - 4 FG, 4 - 4 XP, 10 points |
Janikowski hit field goals of 38 and 44 yards, but missed from 58 and 35 yards. Janikowski's 58 yard attempt was low and came up short. He missed wide to the left on the 35 yard attempt. Janikowski hit all four of his extra point attempts.
| OAK Rush Defense |
After allowing over 150 yards on the ground per game, the Raiders defense held the Broncos to 86 yards rushing and an average of only 3 yards per carry. Travis Henry did run for two short touchdowns, but the run defense played very well overall. Kirk Morrison led the unit with seven solo tackles and three assists. Robert Thomas forced a Travis Henry fumble by wrenching the ball fro Henry's hands.
| OAK Pass Defense |
The Raiders pass defense played well. Jay Cutler completed only 50 percent of his passes. Thomas Howard picked off his fifth pass of the year. Fabian Washington was able to snag a low Cutler throw before it hit the ground. Rookie Jay Richardson contributed his first career sack.
