The best part about this game for the Oakland Raiders is that it ended. Oakland lost 37-6 and it could have easily been worse. The Raiders were dominated in nearly every aspect of the game including total yardage (503-237) and time of possession (37:25 to 22:35).
Amazingly, the Raiders caused the only game's only turnover, though to be fair, Demaryius Thomas all but handed it over to Oakland's defense losing the ball while streaking towards the end zone after a perfect wide-receiver screen. Needing to rush Peyton Manning, the defense barely breathed on him, failing to record a sack.
On the flip side, Denver's defense harassed Carson Palmer all day long. Palmer was sacked three times, and was knocked down on the ground four times that much. Once again, Darren McFadden was ineffective on the ground, gaining 34 yards on 13 carries. It was not about bad calls or refs or a few plays. Denver was just markedly better than the Raiders all game long.
Heading to the bye week, Oakland is 1-3 and based on this performance, can't really be expected to do much going forward. The secondary is atrocious and the heralded front four of Shaughnessy, Seymour, Kelly and Houston has shown itself to be too plodding and too ineffective to give the shaky secondary much assistance. That leaves the field open for average quarterbacks (see: Ryan Tannehill) to exploit the defense.
When great QB's like Ben Roethlisberger and Peyton Manning get these looks, it's going to be very very bad.
So, for the sake of continuity, let's revisit my five keys to what I genuinely believed would be a close Raider victory. Guess I can leave my psychic hat in the garage.
Get defensive on third down. No, not so much. The Broncos were 10-of-16 on third down and extended drive after drive as they marched up and down the field at will. Denver's offense was really only stopped by Denver (Thomas' fumble and an ill-advised fake fie...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
