The Raiders.. Stink

The Raiders played the role of a patsy opponent well. They were outclassed, outplayed and outcoached in their 37-21 loss to the Broncos Monday night at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The game was over in the first half when Peyton Manning did whatever he wanted against the Raiders’ defense.

So much for the Raiders’ slogan of Commitment to Excellence. That’s a definition of an oxymoron. The losing has been constant for the Raiders since the late Al Davis foolishly traded then-Raiders head coach Jon Gruden to the Buccaneers in 2002. The Raiders have employed seven different coaches since Gruden was traded, and they employed 15 different quarterbacks since Rich Gannon retired after the 2004 season.

The Raiders hired Reggie McKenzie as their general manager last season, and it’s going to take several more drafts for that to materialize. It’s hard to clean up the mess that the late Al Davis created all these years by drafting poorly along with then-Raiders coach Hue Jackson foolishly giving up draft picks to acquire Carson Palmer, who never panned out as a quarterback for the Raiders.

Right now, it’s not pretty. It could cost former Broncos defensive coordinator Dennis Allen his job as Raiders coach if his team loses games like Monday night.

As great as the Broncos played, that’s how bad the Raiders were. Peyton Manning had too much time to throw as Raiders defensive line was mauled by the Broncos offensive line, and it was good enough for him to complete 32 of 37 attempts for 374 yards and three touchdowns. The Raiders left holes open for several Broncos’ wide receivers to run. The Raiders’ secondary was no match for the Broncos’ speedy wide receivers. It was funny to watch the Raiders attempt to tackle the Broncos on offense.

It’s hard to win games if a football team does not play defense. There’s no question defense is not what it used to be in the NFL anymore, but it does not excuse any football team to not tackle or get to the quarterback.

It seemed like the Raiders spent more time admiring Manning rather than attempting to go after him. He’s great, but it does not mean they should let him do his thing without tackling him and all. It was surprising Manning did not surpass his seven touchdown performance on Opening Night in Week 1.

The Broncos ran several yards against the Raiders, too. Their running game is not going to remind anyone of the days of Terrell Davis and Clinton Portis.

If the defense was not bad enough, the Raiders left a lot to be desired when it comes to their offense. Raiders quarterback Terrell Pryor had a hard time throwing all night, and he could not find his receivers. He was getting hit often, and he was thinking too much.

Pryor figured it out late in the game by moving the ball around, but by then, the Broncos had this game in hand and they probably were playing out the clock.

It remains to be seen if Pryor is going to be an elite quarterback, but that’s where he has this season to figure out what he can do.

With the way the Raiders are going, they are going to be playing for the right to draft Jadevon Clowney at this point. They need a defensive player in the worst way after watching Julian Thomas and Wes Welker had their way with the Raiders’ secondary.

The Broncos don’t have to apologize for beating up on a cupcake team. Teams with championship aspirations are being paid to beat teams that they are supposed to
beat. They are supposed to do whatever it takes to get home-field advantage in the AFC playoffs. If they were playing to the level of their opponent last night, they would start picking up bad habits that could hurt them later in the season.

Plus, the locals would not take it well about their favorite team losing to their hated rival. They would not be happy losing to anyone period. They would start asking questions about what’s wrong with the Broncos, so that’s why it was important to dominate the Raiders.

It would be nice if the Broncos’ rivals do well. It makes the game more watchable, and there would be more meaning to the contests. It’s hard to get worked up on an opposing team that is bad.

Broncos fans will always be fired up whenever their team plays the Raiders due to the history of both franchises that goes back to the AFL days.  They enjoy it when the Raiders stink, so Monday night’s loss was fun for them.

That’s all well and good, but beating the Raiders does not have that much of a meaning when they are that bad. It’s more like a college football team beating up an overmatched non-conference opponent. It’s like taking a win and moving on.

That’s why it’s always nice when rivals do well. There’s something about beating divisional teams when both play for high stakes.

It’s hard to get excited when a divisional team is not good enough to beat a great team in the Broncos. There is such a talent gap between the Broncos and Raiders, and it showed in Monday night’s contest.

This was nothing more than a scrimmage win for the Broncos.

Leslie Monteiro

Leslie is a contributor for Lightning Rod Sports. He covered high school sports in Bergen County out in North Jersey, and has written op-ed columns on sports such as Bleacher Report and NY Sports Digest.

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