"Did John Fox hear the Tim Tebow chants?" everyone was asking. Tim Tebow? Who cares? John Fox didn't give a shit about his quarterback! It wasn't his quarterback that lost the game for them, but rather the Raiders' special teams, and the Broncos' defense.
To be perfectly fair, Kyle Orton did all he could to give the Broncos a chance in week 1. Sure, he threw a pick (one), but we've all seen quarterbacks throw multiple interceptions in a game and still come out with the win. The guy also threw for 304 yards in that game! Those aren't quite Tom Brady numbers (no one was even close to touching Tom's 517), but they're still more than decent. He had help too. Brandon Lloyd and Eric Decker combined for 142 yards - more than the entire Raiders' receiving staff combined.
What gave the game away for the Broncos was their rush defense, and what gave the Raiders the slight edge was their special teams; and in this case their field goal kicker: Sebastien Janikowski. The guy hit one from 63 yards out! Sweet mother of Jesus that's long! That tied an NFL record, of course. And when you had the twelth best running back from the previous season (Darren McFadden) break 150 yards on you, that doesn't help.
Tim Tebow is not the answer, and neither is Brady Quinn (oh no). The answer lies in the Broncos' seemingly weak rush defense and a bit of luck. After all the mistakes and agony that Broncos fans endured through on Monday night in Week 1, they still only lost by 3. If Janikowski missed his 63-yarder the game would have went into overtime. And if McFadden hadn't of pranced his way into the red zone with so much ease all night long, the Raiders would have probably scored one less touchdown and the Broncos would have won the game perhaps 20-16.
This is all hypothetical, of course. I mean, what if these are legitimate problems that the Broncos have overlooked in the offseason and go disregarded as this season progresses? John Fox is a smart guy; he should figure this one out. It's not going to take much to be better. The Raiders weren't exactly a great team either and sure enough losing to them at the home opener is not the greatest of starts to am NFL season, but the season is still very young. Bronco fans be strong! They still look very good. The Broncos host the Bengals next week.
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