The battle between Ryan Clady and Richard Seymour highlights Week 3's divisional game between the Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders (AP, Getty photos)

Denver Broncos offensive tackle Ryan Clady is on the cusp of NFL history. Currently riding the league’s longest consecutive game streak without allowing a full sack (18 games), Clady has a once-and-only opportunity to rewrite the NFL record books at his position and become immortalized in league annals.

If Clady can continue his sackless streak this week, he will be tied for the most consecutive games without giving up a sack to start an NFL career.

Another sackless effort in Week Four, and Clady will stand alone.

Like any good hero story, though, Clady’s has a villain. In order to finish the deed, the fleet-footed 325-pounder will have to prove his mettle this week against the one man who managed to tally a single statistic of significance against him in his career, a half-sack registered as a New England Patriot last year: Oakland Raiders defensive lineman Richard Seymour. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Oakland Raiders head coach Tom Cable (SI.com)

Just reading Oakland Raiders Head Coach Tom Cable‘s quotes leading up to Sunday’s game shows that he is focused on making a change in Oakland. From the Contra Costa Times:

“Don’t worry so much about the opponent, who they are and how they do things,” Cable said. “Let the emotion of the rivarly with the Denver Broncos handle that for you, but the focus as a football player, as a football team, is on us. Better execution. Sharper focus. More attention to detail. Us, us, us, us. That’s it.”

Eliminating an outlet for excuses is a good first step for a coach trying to change a culture teeming with them since the Tuck Rule in 2001.

Similarly, if the Broncos head into this game expecting to face a Raiders team that matches their quarterback’s recent stumblings, they’ll be disappointed.  It sounds like Cable has his players ready for a fight; hopefully McDaniels has his as well.

Raiders can send Broncos reeling [Inside the Oakland Raiders]

BroncoTalk staffers J. Kenneth K., Mr. East and Kyle predict each week’s winners.

Tennessee at New York Jets (-2.5)

The defensively tough came-out-of-nowhere team of 2008 travels to face the defensively tough came-out-of-nowhere team of 2009. Mark Sanchez has been getting all the credit for the Jets’ success, but he’s really a game manager who’s making a few clutch throws. Sounds like Kerry Collins, doesn’t it? But I’m not ready to crown the Jets, and I’m not ready to declare Jeff Fisher’s team dead (which is what predicting an 0-3 start would be doing). I think the Titans show some pride and bounce back.

Pick: Titans, 20-17 Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Denver Broncos fullback Peyton Hillis runs into a wall of Oakland Raiders defenders near the goal line during the fourth quarter of their NFL football game in Oakland, California September 8, 2008. (REUTERS/Robert Galbraith)

The Denver Broncos can beat the Oakland Raiders.

The Raiders pose the toughest challenge the Broncos have faced in 2009.  Their defense is aggressive at all levels, especially along the defensive line, and their offense is underrated behind their duo of big bruising backs Darren McFadden and Michael Bush.  What’s more, the Raiders are a bad call away from being 2-0.  (No seriously, they should be.  Ed Hochuli can be at peace now; his zebra brethren repaid the debt).

It won’t be easy, and at times it won’t be fun, but beating the Raiders can be done.

Here’s how.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Injury Report for the Week 3 NFL game between the Denver Broncos and Oakland on Sunday, September 27, 2009.

Updated Friday 2:30 PM, changes in bold.

DNP – Did Not Participate; LP – Limited Participation; FP – Full Participation; NL – Not Listed

Daily notes and Raiders report after the jump. Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Knowshon Moreno and Brandon Stokley were no-shows for Friday’s practice at Dove Valley, Frank Schwab of the Colorado Springs Gazette reports. Stokley has been back-and-forth with a thigh injury all week, while Moreno’s absence comes as quite a surprise.

Moreno’s absence was wholly unexpected – he had not appeared on the injury report this week. Stokley missed practice Wednesday and was limited with a thigh injury Thursday. If he had a setback to his thigh injury this late in the week, his chances of playing Sunday will take a hit.

Schwab also notes that starting left guard Ben Hamilton was back at practice, a good sign heading into the Broncos‘ upcoming match with the Raiders, where DL Richard Seymour has been terrorizing LG’s through the first two weeks of the season.

Getting Hamilton back is huge – not a Russ Hochstein fan, but I really thought Stokley would pull through by now. In the Shanahan era, missing a Friday practice was as good as missing a game Sunday. We’ll see if that’s the case with McDaniels.

Moreno, Stokley not at practice [Colorado Springs Gazette]
Denver Broncos at Oakland Raiders Injury Report [BroncoTalk]

A few weeks ago – the morning of the start of the 2009 season, hours before kickoff in Cincinnati, to be exact – ESPN’s Chris Mortensen ran a report indicating that former Denver Broncos Head Coach Mike Shanahan had intended to cut star wide receiver Brandon Marshall this offseason, had he remained coach.  We were much too busy with real football to give the report its due attention, but needless to say, it caused quite a stir.

Mostly because it made no sense.  Shanahan put up with far worse from far worse players to cut ties with Marshall outright.

Enter Jeff Legwold, reasoned voice and the Denver Post’s football-minded writer, who tapped into his own sources to basically say what most of us knew all along: Mortensen’s report is garbage.

All I can tell you is that Shanahan has told people I know very well the report was not true, that he had no intention of cutting Marshall.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

• When asked what challenges Oakland‘s WRs present, Champ Bailey didn’t hesitate: “Speed.”  [DenverBroncos.com]
• Video preview of the upcoming matchup.  [DB.com]
• The Raiders are bringing a swagger to Sunday’s game.  [Yahoo! Sports]
• Oakland’s tendency to max protect does it more harm than good.  [Mile High Report]
• A video celebration of some of the greatest Broncos of all time.  [Broncos Zone]
• Ladainian Tomlinson and Shawne Merriman are among the Chargers who didn’t practice Thursday.  [ESPN]
• Todd Haley stirred up a hornet’s nest with his comments on Matt Cassel.  [ESPN]
• A battle of flimsy-armed quarterbacks.  [Kissing Suzy Kolber]
• The Rockies blew an early lead.  Hopefully we’re not saying that a few games from now, if you know what I mean.  [Colorado Springs Gazette]

An Oakland Raiders fan holds a sign during the team's Week 2 game in Kansas City. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

If the Oakland Raiders pull out a win on Sunday, but no one is there to see it… does the win really happen?

As excited as Raiders fans seem to be at their team’s tepid start, and with one of the NFL’s most storied rivalries taking another spin, you would think Oakland fans could muster a large enough crowd this weekend to at least fill their stadium.

You’d be wrong.

That’s right, folks — the Raiders-Broncos game for Week 3 is not a sellout, and so the game will be blacked out in local markets. Bay area Broncos fans will not be treated to the televised Raider-thumping.

Click here to read the rest of this entry »

Oakland Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell in training camp. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Your wittiest, most cleverest captions in the comments. (NEW — with the new comments system deployed, be sure to “Like” the ones you like! Pay your friends, skew the results, disrupt the system!) Winner gets a Denver Broncos keychain! Last week’s winner after the jump. Click here to read the rest of this entry »