Oakland Raiders 59 Denver Broncos 14
Where were you on October 24, 2010? The Oakland Raiders were coming off a disastrous loss to the (0-5) San Francisco 49ers. The Broncos weren’t faring a whole lot better either, holding at (2-4) having fallen to the Jets the week before. The beatdown started quietly enough as quarterback Jason Campbell calmly drove the Raiders to a touchdown on their opening possession. Following the kickoff, the Broncos’ first play from scrimmage ended in disaster as defensive back Chris Johnson returned an interception 30-yards for a touchdown.
The Broncos fumbled on the ensuing kickoff and Lamarr Houston recovered the loose pigskin on the Denver 21. Darren McFadden easily scored three plays later from four yards out to lift the Raiders to a 21-0 lead with nine minutes remaining in the first. Sebastian Janikowski later added a field goal to extend the lead to 24-0. Late in the first period, Campbell directed the offense from his own 43 and the Raiders started the second quarter another touchdown. This time, McFadden took a screen pass and ran through defensive back Renaldo Hill on his way to a touchdown. Oakland now led 31-0 with 14:36 left in the second quarter.
Following an exchange of punts, the Broncos began their sixth possession of the game at their own 14. Following a running play, Denver quarterback Kyle Orton scrambled for some daylight as Mike Mitchell delivered a perfect swat at the ball to cause a fumble. Fellow safety Tyvon Branch scooped up the ball and returned it 12-yards to the Bronco 14. Three plays later, McFadden scored for the third time from four yards away. This put Denver in a 38-0 hole and only eight minutes had elapsed into the second quarter! The teams exchanged punts again but with around two minutes to go the Broncos finally scored on a short touchdown pass from Orton to running back Knowshon Moreno. The combination paired up again early in the third period for Denver’s final score of the day.
Campbell responds for the Raiders
Campbell responded to the threat by guiding the Raiders on a 10-play, 80-yard drive that ate up nearly seven minutes of clock time. Fullback Marcel Reese powered into the endzone from one yard away for a 45-14 lead, but the Raiders weren’t done strangling the life out of the Broncos.
By this point, most of the Bronco fans had left the building and the Raiders were enthusiastically celebrating the win. Later, McFadden scored from 57-yards away and Michael Bush scored another Oakland touchdown from one yard out to finish off the scoring. Bush’s touchdown came with 31 seconds remaining in the third and with the running game gone, Orton was forced to pass on almost every play of the fourth quarter. Oakland was ready and easily stopped the Broncos from adding any more points to the slaughter. The Raiders finished 8-8 in 2010 and Denver slipped to 4-12. In week fifteen, the Raiders had their way with Denver again during a 39-23 victory at the Coliseum. In two games, the Raiders outscored Denver 98-37.
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