Broncos lose to Oakland 20-19; in other news, Peyton Hillis missing

The Oakland Raiders came into Denver and stole a victory from the Broncos, 20-19. As with many of the Broncos losses this year, Oakland was able to run the ball down Denver's throat throughout much of the game. Perhaps most painfully, the game-winning drive was led by benched former starter Jamarcus Russel, who threw the for the game winning touchdown on what was just his third touchdown pass of the season.

This game was very similar to the Indianapolis game last week. Just like Indianapolis did, Denver started out strong, scoring on their first two possessions and shutting down the Raiders offense. Then, for much of the middle portion of the game, Oakland looked like the better team - just as Denver did last week against Indianapolis. Finally, just as Peyton Manning did for the Colts, Kyle Orton led the Broncos down for a late touchdown. The major difference between these two scenarios is that Denver only scored field goals on their first two possessions and led just 6-0 while Indiapolis had jumped out to a 21-0 lead and Denver really had a long way to come back. Oakland, on the other hand, was able to get a touchdown early and led 7-6, erasing the lead Denver had built up and completely switching the momentum of the game.

There were three key reasons Denver lost this game, in my opinion:

1) The first two scores were FGs and not touchdowns, as outlined above.

2) Mitch Berger kicked a 12 yard punt off the side of his foot after Denver's third possession. Oakland's next play was a long run into Denver territory and they eventually punched it in for the touchdown and the 7-6 lead. The momentum shift at this point of the game was palpable.

3) Josh McDaniels. McDaniels had a terrible coaching game with some inexplicable moves. First and foremost, he continued to dig his heels into the ground like a Donkey ready for the glue factory and played LaMont Jordan (who arguably shouldn't have made the team to begin with) over Peyton Hillis as our second running back. Denver, as usual, struggled to convert short yardage downs - an area where Hillis' size and power could really help. Lamont Jordan was ineffective. Moreno had an okay game, but Oakland clearly won the battle between the two running games. Why does McDaniels continue to refuse to play Hillis? If the Broncos were still winning, it would be hard to argue. However, they are now 2-6 over the last 8 games with an offense that is frankly not very good. Peyton Hillis is very popular among Denver fans and media and there is simply no explanation as to why he is in McDaniels' doghouse - especially because the broncos have some ills which Hillis could be used to cure. McDaniels simply seems to prefer to be right rather than to win. Beyond Hillis, Denver's offense has become predictable. The names we hear most are Marshall, Moreno, and Buckhalter (when healthy). Moreno, in fact, was tied with Royal for 2nd most catches today - 3 each. Denver has a lot more weapons than that: Eddie Royal, Tony Scheffler, and Brandon Stokely (who was the offensive MVP in games 1-4) are all underutilized and even Daniel Graham and Jabar Gaffney (who was much more productive early in the season) have gone quiet. Where is the Wild-Horses formation or any other wrinkles. The most innovative play we saw out of Denver today was a quick-snap quarterback sneak on 2nd and 4 which went for a couple of yards. Josh Mcdaniels came into Denver promising to fix a long laundry list of problems - but we are seeing the same types of problems this season and I think the offense is clearly worse than it was last year.

Right now, the Broncos are not a good team. Even if we can sneak into the playoffs (Denver is now the 6 seed, one game ahead of Pittsburgh, Jacksonville, Tennessee (scary good right now), Miami, Houston, and New York. Pittsburgh and Jacksonville would both win tie-breakers over Denver), it is hard to imagine any result other than a first round beating.

Finally, a hypothetical question. Where would Denver be without the Queen City Miracle? This team has showed very limited ability to bounce back from losses. They rode an incredible wave of momentum off that miracle win at Cincinatti and then a couple of easy games against Cleveland and Oakland. The confidence went a long way. Now, they don't seem to have the confidence and swagger. I am beginning to suspect that the team that started 6-0 was a complete mirage and the team that has gone 2-6 in the last eight is the real Josh McDaniels led Denver Broncos.

By the way, congratulation to San Diego for clinching the AFC west title today, with two weeks to go in the season. What a day for Denver.