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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