How Sweet It Is!

The Oakland Raiders get a taste of sweet revenge on the Denver Broncos with a 31-10 drumming of Shanihan and his donkeys in Denver. The Oakland upset was so unexpected, even I, a disgruntled Raider fan who'd chosen to spend my Sunday at an outing with my Grand kids, assumed Denver would triumph with ease.

I think Ashlie Lelie, former Bronco, christened the victory best when he compared this payback win to the feeling of "getting back at your cheating girlfriend." I believe the Broncos and Lelie parted company after contract re-negotiations turned ugly two seasons ago resulting in his release.

In this victory, all aspects of the Raiders team shined with Lelie possibly being the brightest star. Lelie , who had a momentum changing 51-yard catch, caught four catches for ninety-two yards and a touchdown.

One could say that the Raiders paid back the Broncos in full for the opening Monday Night game in Oakland, a 41-14 embarrassment. I believe this Broncos loss is a bigger blow to them than ours was that opening season game. The Broncos came into this game as western division leaders with a chance to possibly go up three games with five remaining. Instead, they remain two ahead of San Diego (Colts 23 Chargers 20) and only three ahead of the Raiders .

I caught the final minutes of the game on the radio, then listened to every morsel of post-game coverage while driving back to the bay area. It was the sweetest two hour drive I've had in a long, long time. Just me, my radio and my Silver and Black pride shining and blowing in the breeze. Oh, did I mention I'd pulled over to take out my Raiders AFC Champions flag and attach it to the car for the victory ride home? Nostalgia? Yes, it was a joyous Sunday that almost made up for these past weekends of gloom. Almost.

Coach Tom Cable is the one who really surprised me with his after game talk. He said all the right things and sounded sincere about his belief in the team. Maybe big Al has finally found a coach who the players can and will respond to.

Hats off to cornerback Chris Johnson for playing like a pro and stepping up to the challenge of a Bronco passing game aimed squarely at him. C. Johnson defended valiantly and didn't give up anything worth much.

We all prayed for JaMarcus Russell and the Godmother he lost to cancer this past week. After seeing the young quarterback complete 10 of 11 for 152 yds. and 1-touchdown, I know he's going to be okay in this league. Yeah, we've got us a true leader at quarterback here in Oakland ya'll.

Let's not forget special teams. Punt returner Johnnie Lee Higgins does it again with an 89-yd return for a touchdown.Hey , whatever happened to that free agent returner that was brought in two weeks ago to compete for Johnnie Lee's returning duties?

We Raider fans should simply savor this win, a win that ranks right up there with the past few wins in Denver. More importantly though, this win should give us all a glimpse of what lies down the road for this team when its healthy with strong decisive leadership and executing like the machine it was built to be. Awesome!

Final Score
Oakland Raiders 31
Denver Broncos 10

A Glorious Win!