At Least Denver Gets Its Excuse Across : AFC: Broncos say loss of John Elway and Leonard Russell caused them to fail twice from the Raider one-yard line.

The Denver Broncos offered two reasons why they failed to score touchdowns after twice having first downs at the Raider one-yard line Sunday:

--Injured quarterback John Elway.

--Injured running back Leonard Russell.

“Of course having John out hurt us,” Denver Coach Wade Phillips said after the 23-13 loss at the Coliseum, “but not having Leonard in there really was bad because he’s our big goal-line back.”

Without their two top scoring threats near the goal line, the Broncos did not have a chance as they came up empty in seven plays inside the Raiders’ six-yard line. Denver twice had a chance to take the lead with touchdowns but instead got only two short field goals by Jason Elam.

Elway, who suffered a knee injury against Kansas City last week, decided on Saturday that he would be unable to play, leaving Hugh Millen as the starting quarterback.

“I knew yesterday that John wasn’t going to play,” Phillips said. “After watching him in practice, it was pretty evident that he wasn’t going to play unless there was a miracle.

“Without John, our game plan did change quite a bit. We tried to be more conservative and run the ball more. We wanted to take time off the clock and keep the game close.”

The plan might have worked had Russell not injured his neck early in the second quarter. At 6 feet 2, 235 pounds, Russell entered the game as the Broncos’ leading scorer with nine touchdowns, but the injury forced him to leave after gaining only nine yards in three carries.

“We knew that the Raiders were strong up front, but I felt that we still had a chance,” Phillips said. “But without (Russell) we had trouble because he’s our strong back who can get it in there near the goal line.”

Denver had its first opportunity to score late in the second quarter with the Raiders ahead, 6-0. With 1:22 remaining, the Broncos had a first down at the Raider six-yard line, thanks to a 35-yard pass from Millen to Shannon Sharpe.

On first down, the Broncos lost four yards when Reggie Rivers was tackled in the backfield by a charging Chester McGlockton. On the next two snaps, Millen was sacked and then threw incomplete. But Raider penalties gave the Broncos first down at the one-yard line.

First, Millen threw incomplete to Jerry Evans. On second down, Rivers lost a yard when he was tackled by Rob Fredrickson and Jerry Ball. On third down, Millen threw incomplete to Sharpe, forcing Denver to kick a field goal on the last play of the half.

“We felt confident with the plays we ran, because they’re plays we normally score touchdowns with,” said Sharpe, who finished with nine catches for 89 yards. “They just wanted to keep us out more than we wanted to get in.”

Denver, trailing, 9-3, had another chance to take the lead in the third quarter. After a 33-yard pass from Millen to Glyn Milburn, the Broncos had a first down inside the Raider one-yard line with 4:55 remaining.

On first down, Rivers was stopped for no gain up the middle by Greg Biekert. On second down, Rivers was stopped short of the goal line by Biekert and Patrick Bates. On third down, the Broncos tried Rivers on a sweep left that lost three yards when he was tackled by Fredrickson and Ball.

“We got it down there two times, with the ball at the one-foot line the second time,” Denver right guard Brian Habib said. “There’s no way why we shouldn’t have gotten it in there for touchdowns.”

In his first start of the season, Millen did not play that poorly, completing 20 of 33 passes for 242 yards. But he left dissatisfied.

“We measure success by winning and losing,” he said. “I’m disappointed. The objective is to come in and win the game, and we didn’t make enough plays to do that.”