Game Recaps

QB Jake Plummer's shoulder is fine. He wowed the Mile High faithful in his home debut, throwing for two scores while playing error-free football. He made just about all the throws in the process, seemingly with no problem. He even flashed his wheels, gaining 49 yards on the ground and rushing for a touchdown.

On the other hand, RB Clinton Portis' chest still needs some time to heal. Portis came out of the gate quickly, but left the game after re-aggravating his bruised sternum in the second quarter. With the game well in hand by halftime, he returned briefly in the fourth quarter, then called it a night. Mike Anderson filled in nicely before leaving the game with an injury of his own.

The Broncos defense flashed its speed all night, blanketing the Raiders receivers and pressuring QB Rich Gannon into his second consecutive disappointing performance.

Oakland Raiders

It was an ugly night fantasy-wise for the Raiders. QB Rich Gannon didn't reach the end zone through the air or on the ground. RB Charlie Garner was virtually invisible for most of the game. And the Raiders receivers were held in check by Denver's defense.

While 13 Oakland penalties contributed to a number of 2nd and long / 3rd and long situations, the Raiders clearly missed the presence of Jerry Porter to help them out of those jams. Without Porter to open things up deep, Raiders receivers Tim Brown and Jerry Rice are starting to look more "old" than "experienced."

The lone bright spot of the night for the Raiders was their blocked punt early in the fourth quarter. Of course, they couldn't capitalize on the turnover. Sorry folks, just not much good news to report here.

WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW

Denver Broncos

QB: Jake Plummer (14-27, 159 yards, 2 TDs passing; 5-48 yards, 1 TD rushing) quickly put to rest any lingering doubts about the condition of his shoulder, which suffered a mild separation in last week's game. In the first quarter alone, he found TE Shannon Sharpe for an 18-yard score, WR Ashley Lelie for a 44-yard touchdown, and also ran one in on a bootleg where the entire defense bit on a run fake up the middle to Portis. He used play action fakes frequently - taking full advantage of RB Clinton Portis' effectiveness - and kept Oakland's defense off-balance early and often. One pass in particular -- a first-quarter laser over the middle to Lelie for a 44-yard gain -- served final notice that his shoulder was just fine. He looked comfortable in the pocket, and on the move, but just as important was his decision-making when he came under pressure. Rather than force the ball into coverage, Plummer was content to either throw the ball away or tuck it and run -- which he did for a 40-yard scramble late in the second quarter. That's an encouraging sign for Plummer owners.

QB Steve Beurlein did not play.

RB: Clinton Portis (10-42 yards rushing, 1-0 receiving; 2 targets) burst out of the gates with 32 yards on his first four carries. He only gained 11 on his next 8 attempts, but that opening drive explosion laid the foundation for the play action fakes that would torment the Raiders early. However, Portis re-aggravated his bruised sternum early in the second quarter, and sat on the sideline for the rest of the second and all of the third quarter. He did return to the game with 9 minutes left in the fourth quarter, and played one series after RB Mike Anderson went down with an injury of his own. After last week's issue with coach Mike Shanahan "fibbing" about Plummer's shoulder injury during the game, it was interesting to note that the official word was that Portis was being held out of the game on a "coach's decision".

RB Mike Anderson (14-70, 1 TD rushing; 2-5 receiving; 3 targets) saw more action than usual at HB last night thanks to Portis' lingering chest pains. Anderson made the most of his opportunity, finishing the night with 70 yards on 14 carries, including a 44-yarder early in the 3rd quarter which brought back memories of the good ol' days in Denver. But he left the game in the fourth quarter with a twisted right knee. The extent of his injury was not known at the time.

RB Quentin Griffin (7-26 rushing; 1-6 receiving; 1 target) looked decent in his NFL debut with. He saw action after both Portis and Anderson left the game with injuries.

WR: Ashley Lelie (3-108, 1 TD receiving; 2-9 rushing; 3 targets) just keeps getting better each week. On his two 44-yard catches in the first quarter - one for a touchdown - he looked fluid and confident. His other catch went for 20 yards. While he is not a frequent target of Plummer, his speed clearly makes him the team's #1 big-play threat through the air.

WR Rod Smith (1-7 receiving; 2 targets) caught his first pass midway through the second quarter, and then was promptly ejected from the game for accidentally slugging the referee with an errant punch that was intended for Raiders LB Eric Barton. A big blow - literally - for Smith owners.

WR Ed McCaffrey (4-44 receiving; 5 targets) made a couple of tough catches in the first half to keep drives alive. He does not seem to be Plummer's first read, but still saw more passes thrown his way than the other receivers did Monday night.

TE: Shannon Sharpe (1-18, 1 TD receiving; 2 targets) made his only catch of the night count, taking it 18 yards for a touchdown to open the scoring. However, he wasn't heard from for the rest of the night.

K: Jason Elam was busy as he connected on four extra points and his only FG attempt from 20 yards.

Pass Defense: The absence of Jerry Porter made is easy for the Denver defensive backfield to keep up with Oakland aging receivers. They shut of the deep stuff and simply let the Raiders have the short passes. The Broncos dropped seven and rushed four all night, and the Broncos linemen registered five sacks of Gannon.

Run Defense: They shut down Garner early, and once the Raiders fell behind, they didn't do a whole lot of running. For the game, Denver limited Oakland to 39 yards on 16 carries.

Oakland Raiders

QB: A frustrated and visibly upset QB Rich Gannon (14-29, 149 yards, 0 TDs passing) struggled to find open receivers all night, as the speedy Denver linebackers and defensive backs smothered the likes of Tim Brown, Jerry Rice and Charlie Garner. The Broncos front-four consistently put pressure on Gannon, sacking him five times, and he was never able to get into a rhythm. Gannon, and the Raiders offense in general, could badly use a healthy Jerry Porter.

QB Marques Tuiasosopo (3-5, 35 passing; 1-1 rushing) looked good in mop-up duty late in the game ... until he threw an interception in the end zone.

RB: Charlie Garner (4-9 rushing; 1 for -2 receiving; 4 targets) had little success on the ground early on, and once the Raiders fell behind 21-0, his night was pretty much over. He didn't carry the ball or catch a pass in the second half.

RB Tyrone Wheatley (5-16 rushing; 1-15 receiving; 1 target) was the Raiders' feature back for most of the second half, as Oakland apparently wanted a more power-oriented rushing attack to counter the Broncos smaller, quicker defense. He showed a nice burst on several off tackle runs and good hands on a 15 yard reception in the red zone.

RB Zack Crockett (1-4, 1 TD rushing; 0 targets), as usual, saw his first and only carry once the Raiders finally got inside the Broncos 5-yard line (midway through the third quarter). And as usual, he delivered with a TD run from four yards out.

RB Justin Fargas (4-9 rushing; 0 targets) saw limited action backing up Wheatley and Garner in the second half.

WR: Jerry Rice (4-61 receiving; 0-1 0 yards passing; 7 targets) was able to get open underneath against the Broncos D, and finished the night with respectable numbers. Right now, he's really Gannon's only reliable target. As a sign of their desperation, the Raiders had Rice try a reverse pass to Tim Brown in the fourth quarter, but the throw went off Brown's fingertips.

WR Tim Brown (1-11 receiving; 5 targets) didn't catch a pass until the game was 47 minutes old. He also dropped a touchdown pass from Jerry Rice (on a reverse pass) in the back of the end zone about five minutes later. He looked overmatched and uninterested much of the night.

WR Alvis Whitted (1-14 receiving; 3 targets) didn't get a look from Gannon until early in the third quarter. He's a far cry from injured Jerry Porter as the Raiders' #3 wideout.

WR Ronald Curry (2-20 receiving) and WR Doug Gambriel (1-17 receiving) both saw action in the Raiders 4- and 5-receiver sets.

TE: Doug Jolley (5-42 receiving; 8 targets) was Gannon's security blanket for much of the night, as Gannon was under pressure and forced to dump the ball to his secondary receivers for the majority of the game. He targeted Jolley more than any other Raider receiver.

K: Sebastian Janikowski was successful on a 31-yard field goal and on his only XP attempt.

Pass Defense: The Raiders D was victimized early by Jake Plummer s frequent play-action fakes. Once Portis left the game, they did a better job containing Plummer. Unfortunately, the damage was done by that point.

Run Defense: Horrible. The Raiders were on their heels all night and it showed to the tune of 190 Denver yards on 39 carries. Portis left the game in the second quarter, and the Raiders D had no answer for Mike Anderson. Even rookie Quentin Griffin was mildly successful in the fourth quarter.