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DENVER — JaMarcus Russell and Chaz Schilens hooked up for the winning touchdown in the final minute to give the Oakland Raiders a victory made possible by nickel back Stanford Routt's save earlier in the fourth quarter.
Brandon Stokley was about to score the game-clinching touchdown for Denver when he hauled in a 63-yard pass-and-run with the Broncos leading 16-13. Routt corralled the speedy receiver with an illegal horse-collar tackle at the Raiders 4, however, preventing the score.
“I just had to go get him. You never let somebody just run into the end zone, you know what I mean? You never do that,” Routt said after the Raiders' 20-19 victory Sunday. “I just grabbed him and tried to bring him down. I didn't know it was illegal. I mean I didn't hurt him or nothing. I grabbed his neck and he came down.”
The infraction, usually a 15-yarder, only moved the ball to the 2.
For the Broncos (8-6), it might as well have been a mile.
They have scored touchdowns on just half of their 22 first-and-goal situations this season and sure enough, they couldn't get to the goal line again, settling instead for Matt Prater's fourth field goal and a 19-13 lead with six minutes remaining.
“You get down there you've got to score a touchdown,” Stokley said. “Those end up coming back and costing you the game.”
And it did, when Russell found redemption and Schilens together in the end zone with 35 seconds left.
“They're all special, but this one's pretty high,” said Russell, the former No. 1 overall draft pick who was benched a month ago and passed by Charlie Frye on the depth chart this week following a double-knee injury to Bruce Gradkowski.
Russell will go back to the bench if Frye recovers from slamming his head on the ground after a hard hit from linebacker Andra Davis early in the fourth quarter Sunday.
Frye was 9 for 17 for 68 yards and an interception, plus a 26-yard scamper on his only keeper in his first start since Oct. 12, 2008, for Seattle. Russell completed 5 of 11 passes for 47 yards.
“We'll have to sort through the bodies on the way home and we'll decide,” said Raiders coach Tom Cable, who even sent in newly signed J.P. Losman for a snap when Russell was knocked woozy on the winning drive.
And the Broncos are sorting through their troubles.
They were sitting pretty in the AFC wild card race before Sunday but now find themselves answering questions about poor play-calling, bad execution, missed tackles, bad blitz pickups, you name it.
“We've got a great kicker in Matt Prater but he shouldn't have to score all the points in the game,” Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler lamented. “I feel pretty empty right now. It's tough. But we've got two games to make the playoffs and kind of control our own destiny, to use that cliche. But we've got to pick things up.”
The Raiders (5-9) delivered a devastating blow to the Broncos' playoff hopes with their second straight win at Invesco Field. Now, the Broncos figure they're going to have to win at Philadelphia next Sunday in what will be homecoming week for Brian Dawkins and Correll Buckhalter, who missed this one with a bad ankle.
“We have no margin for error,” defensive end Vonnie Holliday said. “The sense of urgency was supposed to be today. And unfortunately it wasn't.”
The Broncos were outgained on the ground 241-80, with Michael Bush gashing Denver for 133 yards on 18 carries and Darren McFadden gaining 74 yards on a dozen handoffs, adding yet another item in the long list of things Denver needs to fix to end a three-year playoff drought.
“Right now everybody's down,” Holliday said. “It looks bleak. But in the grand scheme of things, nobody expected us to be here. And we've still got a lot to fight for. We go out and win at Philly, who knows what happens?”
Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton said: “I'm going to put my head down, go to work and win two more games and take this team to the playoffs.”
NOTES: Mitch Berger's 7-yard punt set up Oakland's first score, a 23-yard untouched run by Bush up the middle. … The game was halted for a few minutes with 6:53 left after a fan shined a laser on the players from the south end zone while the Broncos were lined up on second-and-goal.
Brandon Stokley was about to score the game-clinching touchdown for Denver when he hauled in a 63-yard pass-and-run with the Broncos leading 16-13. Routt corralled the speedy receiver with an illegal horse-collar tackle at the Raiders 4, however, preventing the score.
“I just had to go get him. You never let somebody just run into the end zone, you know what I mean? You never do that,” Routt said after the Raiders' 20-19 victory Sunday. “I just grabbed him and tried to bring him down. I didn't know it was illegal. I mean I didn't hurt him or nothing. I grabbed his neck and he came down.”
The infraction, usually a 15-yarder, only moved the ball to the 2.
For the Broncos (8-6), it might as well have been a mile.
They have scored touchdowns on just half of their 22 first-and-goal situations this season and sure enough, they couldn't get to the goal line again, settling instead for Matt Prater's fourth field goal and a 19-13 lead with six minutes remaining.
“You get down there you've got to score a touchdown,” Stokley said. “Those end up coming back and costing you the game.”
And it did, when Russell found redemption and Schilens together in the end zone with 35 seconds left.
“They're all special, but this one's pretty high,” said Russell, the former No. 1 overall draft pick who was benched a month ago and passed by Charlie Frye on the depth chart this week following a double-knee injury to Bruce Gradkowski.
Russell will go back to the bench if Frye recovers from slamming his head on the ground after a hard hit from linebacker Andra Davis early in the fourth quarter Sunday.
Frye was 9 for 17 for 68 yards and an interception, plus a 26-yard scamper on his only keeper in his first start since Oct. 12, 2008, for Seattle. Russell completed 5 of 11 passes for 47 yards.
“We'll have to sort through the bodies on the way home and we'll decide,” said Raiders coach Tom Cable, who even sent in newly signed J.P. Losman for a snap when Russell was knocked woozy on the winning drive.
And the Broncos are sorting through their troubles.
They were sitting pretty in the AFC wild card race before Sunday but now find themselves answering questions about poor play-calling, bad execution, missed tackles, bad blitz pickups, you name it.
“We've got a great kicker in Matt Prater but he shouldn't have to score all the points in the game,” Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler lamented. “I feel pretty empty right now. It's tough. But we've got two games to make the playoffs and kind of control our own destiny, to use that cliche. But we've got to pick things up.”
The Raiders (5-9) delivered a devastating blow to the Broncos' playoff hopes with their second straight win at Invesco Field. Now, the Broncos figure they're going to have to win at Philadelphia next Sunday in what will be homecoming week for Brian Dawkins and Correll Buckhalter, who missed this one with a bad ankle.
“We have no margin for error,” defensive end Vonnie Holliday said. “The sense of urgency was supposed to be today. And unfortunately it wasn't.”
The Broncos were outgained on the ground 241-80, with Michael Bush gashing Denver for 133 yards on 18 carries and Darren McFadden gaining 74 yards on a dozen handoffs, adding yet another item in the long list of things Denver needs to fix to end a three-year playoff drought.
“Right now everybody's down,” Holliday said. “It looks bleak. But in the grand scheme of things, nobody expected us to be here. And we've still got a lot to fight for. We go out and win at Philly, who knows what happens?”
Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton said: “I'm going to put my head down, go to work and win two more games and take this team to the playoffs.”
NOTES: Mitch Berger's 7-yard punt set up Oakland's first score, a 23-yard untouched run by Bush up the middle. … The game was halted for a few minutes with 6:53 left after a fan shined a laser on the players from the south end zone while the Broncos were lined up on second-and-goal.
