Raiders Make Stunning Turnaround With Rout Over Broncos
ALAMEDA (AP) -- The Oakland Raiders went from a team that could barely make a first down to one that couldn't be kept out of the end zone in a span of one week.
It was a stunning turnaround for a franchise that has been on the losing end of blowouts all too often in recent years before beating the Denver Broncos 59-14 on Sunday in the highest-scoring game in franchise history.
"To be honest with you the whole world was shocked," Raiders cornerback Chris Johnson said Monday. "We expected to win. For us to win like we did, I mean nobody knows where it came from."
The Raiders became just the fourth team since the 1970 merger to score at least eight touchdowns a week after being held to zero. The offense was inept a week ago in a 17-9 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, but rebounded well against the Broncos.
One note of caution for Oakland is the fact that the most recent team to pull off this kind of turnaround followed it with another dud. Philadelphia was held out of the end zone in a 20-12 loss to Washington on Sept. 17, 2007, scored 56 points the following against Detroit, before losing 16-3 to the Giants.
Even though the Raiders haven't won back-to-back games since the end of the 2008 season, coach Tom Cable expects to see more consistency from his team.
"If you show it to us and you show me what you're capable of and you've been able to do it more than once, it's expected," Cable said. "It's called raising the bar. And when you raise the bar you've got to be accountable to that. That's why I mentioned yesterday after the game, whatever the future holds for us, we'll either earn it or not, but we're not going to go backward, we're going to move forward."
The Raiders took a big step back following their last win, a 35-27 victory that snapped a 13-game losing streak to San Diego. They finished with a season-low 179 yards, did not complete a pass in the second or third quarter, and went nearly 35 minutes without a first down against the 49ers.
The reversal this week was most evident at quarterback, where Jason Campbell bounced back from his worst career outing to one of his best. He went 8 for 21 for 83 yards and two interceptions against San Francisco, with a 10.7 passer rating that was the worst for a Raiders quarterback in 35 years.
Playing on a gimpy knee against the Broncos, Campbell finished 12 for 20 for 204 yards and two touchdowns for a career-best 127.9 rating. Campbell came up big on the opening drive with a key 15-yard scramble on third-and-10 and then a 43-yard touchdown pass to Zach Miller.
Cable said the key was that Campbell was aggressive.
"Really, there's only a couple of times where you say, he kind of held it and reread some things, but it was only a couple times," Cable said. "To me he just went out there and just really kind of stayed on time and cut it loose. And I think that's what he has to do. Obviously, if you really break it down, you look at the start of the game for him and that's a pretty fair start for anybody."
He didn't have to do much else on a day the Raiders ran for 328 yards—the third-highest total in team history. Oakland finished with 508 yards of offense in their biggest output since their Super Bowl season in 2002.
The question now is whether Campbell will play again this week at home against Seattle. Bruce Gradkowski, who has missed the past two games with a separated right shoulder, will be the starter when he is healthy. Cable said the team would know more about Gradkowski's status come Wednesday.
The Raiders have been on the wrong side of these kinds of blowouts all too often under Cable. They had fallen behind by at least 20 points in the first half six times in Cable's first 34 games as coach, never taking that kind of lead.
It took just over six minutes for the Raiders to go up 21-0 against the Broncos for their biggest first half lead since going up 21-0 against Denver on Dec. 22, 2002, about a month before going to the Super Bowl.
The lead grew to 38-0 after Darren McFadden's third touchdown midway through the second quarter and the Raiders didn't let up until scoring three more TDs in the third quarter.
"Everybody was smiling, everybody was having fun. It was just like going to the playground and having backyard, playground fun with your friends," Johnson said. "Everybody was very excited for each other. There's no way we should have a step back this week. We just have to take this win and keep building and see how the end of the season finishes out."
Notes: WR Louis Murphy left the game with a chest injury and his status this week won't be known until at least Wednesday. ... Johnson, C Samson Satele and DE Matt Shaughnessy all reported feeling better after having concussions in the game. ... LG Robert Gallery strained his calf but it does not look to be serious.
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