NFL Recap (Oakland-Denver)
Posted: Sun November 22, 1998 at 10:24 p.m. EST
DENVER 40, OAKLAND 14
DENVER (Ticker) -- For John Elway and the Denver Broncos, 11 is
greater than 50,000. But they will take both.
Elway became only the second quarterback in NFL history to pass for
more than 50,000 yards and the Broncos used a huge fourth quarter to remain
unbeaten, clinching a playoff spot with a 40-14 rout of the Oakland Raiders.
team to start the season with 11 wins and the first since Washington
in 1991. The Broncos are chasing history in the form of the 1972 Miami Dolphins, who
including the postseason were an unparalleled 17-0.
Elway completed 17-of-25 passes for 197 yards and three touchdowns,
including two in the fourth quarter after the Raiders (7-4) climbed back
into the game.
The 38-year-old Elway is a distant second to Dolphins great Dan Marino with 50,167 career
passing yards and tied with Seattle's Warren Moon for fourth on
the all-time list with 289 TD passes.
After Oakland cut the deficit to 17-14 on a 14-yard TD pass from Donald Hollas to James Jett with 5:06 left
in the third quarter, the Broncos effortlessly took it up a notch and
pulled away.
"I was really pleased with the effort of our football team," said
Denver coach Mike Shanahan. "You've got to give a lot of credit to the
Raiders. They really came back and made it a football game."
Jason Elam opened
a six-point lead 83 seconds into the final period with a 23-yard field
goal. Elway took over from there, finding Rod Smith for a 28-yard
score, then hitting fullback Howard Griffith for a
three-yard TD. Both scores came after Hollas threw interceptions.
An interception and long return by veteran safety Tyrone Braxton set up Vaughn Hebron's TD run
from the 3 with 2:23 to play.
Terrell Davis
continued his assault on the magical 2,000-yard rushing mark, running for
162 yards and a score on 31 carries. He has a league-leading 1,492 yards
with five games remaining and needs to average just over 101 yards per game
-- well below his current average -- to reach the milestone.
Hollas lost as a starter for the first time in five games this season.
He completed 20-of-35 passes for 270 yards with two TDs and three
interceptions for Oakland, which is one of a quartet of second- or
third-place AFC teams with the same record.
"He did some good things," Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. "The
two-minute drive at the end of the first half gave us some life. I
appreciate his effort and the way he hangs in there."
The win was the Broncos' 22nd in a row at home in the regular season
and Shanahan's seventh in 10 games against his former team.
After outscoring its opponents by 101 points in the first quarter over
the first 10 games, Denver got off to a slow start, managing just a 33-yard
field goal by Elam in the opening period.
On their first drive of the second quarter, which actually began with
1:40 left in the first, the Broncos figured out how to solve the Raiders
defense -- get the ball to Davis.
Davis carried five times for 36 yards and caught a pass for 10 as
Denver put together a 10-play, 80-yard scoring drive. Elway capped the
march with a seven-yard TD strike to tight end Shannon Sharpe for a 10-0
lead. Sharpe finished with three catches for 41 yards.
Elway also caught his first pass of the season on the drive, a 14-yard
reception from Smith.
"I talked to John before the game and I said, 'Hey John, I'm thinking
about putting this play in. Are you sure you want it?'" Shanahan said.
"He said, 'Sure I want it.'"
Four plays later, the Broncos got back the ball and launched a 17-play
march that covered 93 yards and consumed almost eight minutes before Davis
bowled over from the 1 on fourth down.
Oakland got on the board 32 seconds before halftime on Hollas' 29-yard
pass to tight end Rickey
Dudley, cutting the deficit to 17-7.
Davis had 19 rushes for 110 yards in the opening half as Denver
controlled the ball for nearly 21 minutes.
Trailing 20-14 after Elam's field goal early in the fourth quarter,
Oakland lost a chance to take the lead when Hollas' 3rd-and-12 pass was
intercepted by cornerback Ray Crockett at the
Raiders 36.
Denver jumped on the opportunity three plays later as Elway hit Smith
down the left sideline on 3rd-and-2 for his 11th TD pass of the year. The
two-point conversion failed but the Broncos had a 26-14 lead.
"We knew we were in for a dogfight today," Elway said. "One minute
we're up 17-0 and the next thing you know we're in a football game."
It was the fourth TD grab of the season for Smith, who caught three
balls for a team-high 43 yards in the absence of the injured Ed McCaffrey, the team's
leading receiver.
With just under 10 minutes to play, it appeared Oakland had a a shot
after defensive end James
Harris fell on Elway's fumble at the Raiders 21. But Denver got back
the ball less than a minute later when otherwise quiet defensive end Neil Smith picked off a
deflected pass.
"We turned it on in the second half offensively and defensively," Neil
Smith said.
The Broncos went in for the TD with 4:39 left on Elway's flip to
Griffith, then scored again when Braxton's 72-yard interception return to
the 3 set up Hebron's score on first down.
Denver travels to San Diego (5-6) next week in the Sunday night game
while the Raiders, who are in the thick of a tight wild-card race, host the
Washington Redskins.
© 1998 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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