The Denver Broncos were not much better than the Raiders on Sunday. But when your quarterback and offense are having a very bad day it can make the opponent look superior. Such was the Raiders loss to the Broncos yesterday. A day that may have spelled the end to the Raiders chances of making the playoffs this season.
The day was such a gorgeous fall afternoon for a football game in the Bay. Sellout at the Coliseum with all the tailgating festivities that go along with a Raider Nation party. My favorite tailgating highlight, actually there were two but the 475horse powered Raider 68 Camaro is deserving of a story to itself, was the guy carrying around a homemade beer chugging contraption that could accomodate up to eight brave beer chuggers at no cost. Only requirement to take a dive on the chugger was to BYOB(bring your own brew). You simply poured your beer into the top of one of the 1.5 inch diameter hoses until full. Once the carrier of the device lifted it in the air the contraction resembled an octopus with baby octpusses ready to feed at each of it's tentacles. On the count of three each baby octo (Raider Fan Guzzler) would open his red tap lever with his mouth positioned at that end of the hose to let in a full flow of brew with gravitational pressure pushing it into his gut. Think of it as a big bong being filled with brew and you've tilted it upwards to allow for a nonstop flow straight into your mouth. Only at a Raider Tailgate. I hope to post a pic of the contraption once I download the pictures.
I must say that the parking lot was jumping with all kinds of activities. A runner up in ingenuity, and boy were there some creations out there, were some stuff animals. Someone had put a Denver Broncos jersey and helmet on a stuffed Donkey and had it bent over on all fours with it's head to the ground. Riding on it's rear with what must've been running on eveready energizer batteries was a chihuahua stuffed dog with a Black Raiders Jersey and sunglasses humping (via pelvic thrusts) the stuffed Donkey like there was no tomorrow. The scene drew laughs from all that passed by it and I couldn't help but place a can of budweiser on the back of the Donkey while Raider Chihuahua was humping away. I believe the song playing in the background was "Who Let the Dogs Out."
Anyways, back to the game. Our defense gets game balls all around. They limited the Bronco offense and gave our offensive unit plenty of opportunities, some golden. But Kerry Collins was rattled by the many Bronco blitzes and we all know Kerry when he's pressured. Three interceptions, passes off the mark, balls thrown away when flushed out of the pocket. Hell, there was one throw Kerry made towards one of our streaking receivers in the endzone that a fan in the stands caught. That drew more applause than many plays by Kerry throughout the day. I want to spread the blame to other offensive players, many dropped balls by receivers, but Kerry's dismal play was so obvious that I feel a better leader would've pulled this one out.
We had a chance thanks to our defense causing two fumbles in the fourth quarter, but Kerry and the offense just weren't up to the task. The final stake in the heart was an out pass Kerry threw that everyone but him saw as disaster waiting to happen. The covering DB jumped in front of Jerry Porter intercepting the ball and running it back eighty yards for the final Broncos touchdown. The Raiders were crushed and us fans........exasperated.
I agree with what one of the newspapers stated today when they suggested that Norv Turner put too much responsibility on Kerry Collins in expecting him to beat Denver with his passing. It was clear that the Raiders came out wanting to pass against Denver who's ranked 28th in pass defense. But you can't scrap your running game Norv, not with Kerry at the helm and a Denver Defense pressuring all day.
So in the end it was a gallant effort by our defense in a losing cause to a team not much better than the Raiders. The one thing I believe all Raider fans were convinced of yesterday was that we need a Quarterback. Kerry's legacy will go down as Mr. Inconsistant and he's well deserving of that title. Great arm, terrible under pressure and unable to read defenses quick enough. Exasperating.
Miami is up next on the road. Is there really any reason to care anymore? Exasperating.
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