Broncos, Tebow Run Past Raiders

There is nothing like beating the Raiders if you are a Broncos fan. Denver used to do it all the time, but as of late the Raiders simply owned the Broncos. The Raiders won the last four meetings with the Broncos, but this time was different. In the Black Hole, Denver buried and shocked the Raiders 38-24. Willis McGahee rushed for 160 yards and added two huge touchdowns, one of them was a 60 yarder that tied the game at 24 late in the third quarter. Eddie Royal returned a punt 85 yards to give Denver a 31-24 lead with just over five minutes left in the game. Then, of course Tim Tebow played a role in the victory. Tebow was 10-21 for 124 yards and two touchdowns, and he added 118 yards rushing. Tebow's twice rallied the Broncos from 10 point holes. Down 17-7 at the half, Tebow led a drive that ended with a 26 yard touchdown pass to Eddie Royal. Down 24-14, Tebow hit Demaryius Thomas on a 29 yard hookup to get a field goal and reduce the lead to 24017. From there, McGahee took over. Following a Chris Harris interception of Carson Palmer, McGahee dashed 60 yards untouched to tie the game at 24. Late in the fourth quarter, Denver needed to put together a drive to ice the game. Tebow keep the ball on a quarterback keeper for 32 yards, and McGahee added the nail in the coffin with a 24 yard run with only 1:53 to play. To see the Raiders shocked on the sidelines was a nice feeling, and the better feeling is this: With Oakland, Kansas City, and San Diego all losing on Sunday, the Broncos are only a game out of first in the AFC West. Pretty nice Sunday indeed for all of Broncos Country. Here are my quick thoughts on the game.....

1) Tebow played his best game so far this season. He made explosive plays in the passing game, he scrambled when he had to, and he didn't turn the ball over. His first touchdown pass of the day to Eric Decker was a thing of beauty. Hopefully, he can build on this outing.

2) Anyone who follows the Broncos is not surprised by Willis McGahee's day on Sunday. He has been running the ball great all year long. Sunday's win was his official coming out party this year though.

3) Elvis Dumervil record a sack and a half, and looked like the old Elvis. Von Miller was also in Carson Palmer's face the entire afternoon.

4) Champ Bailey notched two interceptions, and that gave him 50 for his career.

5) Overall, the Broncos defense played well. Palmer made about four perfect passes and two of them resulted in touchdowns. Other than those plays, I felt that the defense played solid and were able to make plays in the second half when the game was on the line.

6) After Britton Colquitt fumbled the punt that led to Oakland taking a 10-7 lead, I was furious. My frustration grew even more after Matt Prater missed a 35 yard field goal at the end of the first half. He made a 43 yarder, but after a Raider penalty, the Broncos accepted and took the points off the board. After Denver ran a few plays, John Fox elected to kick the field goal to end of the half and make it 17-10. Prater missed it, and I almost threw my remote through my television screen. The Broncos were lucky to overcome those two special teams disasters.

7) At 3-5, the Broncos head to Arrowhead to take on the 4-4 Chiefs next Sunday. Somehow and someway, Denver is only a game out of the lead for the AFC West. The Broncos never win at Arrowhead, but if they somehow got this game, then who the hell knows how this whole thing could turn out.