One year later the Raiders can’t seem to buy a win against their divisional rivals. One month later Coach Jackson is now being hailed as cocky and controlling.

No matter the exact circumstances of how the Raiders enter Thursday’s game in San Diego there is only one result that will suffice.

It is win or bust time in Oakland. Two straight home losses to AFC West foes have put the Raiders in a dire situation only halfway through the season. Simply put this team cannot afford to drop another game to their primary competition.

The wild AFC West is as wide open as Eric Decker being covered by Michael Huff. No thanks to all three teams that could have taken the division by the horns losing on Sunday we’re suddenly looking at a race there for the taking.
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You see, I’m a true Raider fan. I give credit where credit is due. Respect to the Denver Broncos today because they wanted it more. That second half proved it all as Denver took a 17-7 deficit and turned it into a 38-24 victory…on the road.

Like I said, I bleed Silver and Black so I just have to call it the way I see it.

Sure, there were plenty of questionable calls by the officiating crew this afternoon. But that had nothing to do with all those pre-snap flags that were thrown. Those mistakes made by the officials had nothing on stupid fouls committed at the absolute wrong time.

Carson Palmer made some throws that let you know he’s still an All-Pro talent. That sick TD toss to Marcel Reece and the lob to Jacoby Ford showed the difference between Palmer and Jason Campbell. But Palmer picking on Champ Bailey also showed the big difference between him and Campbell.

To a fault Campbell usually played is safe. Six picks in two games proves Palmer gambles too often for his own good.

But this embarrassing loss to Denver wasn’t all about those 130 yards in penalties and three Palmer picks.

A team that dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball suddenly couldn’t run the rock or stop the run in the second half. That had nothing to do with the officials. That was all on Oakland as Michael Bush went from dominant to dormant and Willis McGahee went from irrelevant to unstoppable.

For whatever reason Hue Jackson chose to limit the number of plays in which the team’s best receiver, Darrius Heyward-Bey, was involved. Yeah, Jacoby Ford did his thing. But unless DHB violated some team rule on game day then I can’t understand why his role was limited.

For whatever reason the Raiders let Tim Tebow and the Broncos run the most obvious plays to great success.

For whatever reason Michael Huff was allowed to shadow Denver’s only option in the passing game, Eric Decker, with little to no success most of the afternoon.

With the Chiefs getting pwned at home by the winless Miami Dolphins and the Chargers getting punk’d in their own crib by the Packers you would have thought the Raiders could handle business in the East Bay against the hapless Broncos.

Wrong!
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It had been 9 years (not a typo) since the Raiders won a season opener, ditto for the last time they won on Monday Night. Well, those ominous streaks are now a thing of the past.

Maybe the Gatorade bath was bit much but at least it shows how much the players both respect and admire their head coach. So far Al’s controversial decision is looking like the right move.

More proof of how little the preseason means, Hue’s bully was picked on in the preseason yet was abusive of the Broncos in the regular season opener.

The O-line pushed the Donkeys around while the D-line dominated. Kyle Orton surpassed the 300-yard mark but did so while running for his life. Darren McFadden ran for 150 bruising yards behind the physical play of the line as he continued his ownership of Denver. Going back to last season that makes three straight 100-yard efforts by Run DMC against the Mile High rivals.

While the final score might appear as if this one was close there really wasn’t much drama at all.

To be sure Sebastian Janikowski’s record tying 63-yard field goal proved vital as the final score will reflect. Still, it wasn’t until late in the 4^th quarter that Denver’s offense actually produced a score. Before that the only other TD came on a 90-yard punt return by Eric Decker. That would be one of the areas the Raiders must improve in which makes this team very much a work in progress.
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