Broncos Send a 31-3 Salutation to Raiders

The Denver Broncos, beaten and mocked by Oakland earlier this season, replied with a snappy Mile High Salute in front of a Monday night television audience, setting the stage for the Raiders to stamp themselves a national embarrassment.

Oakland, bloated with 18 former No. 1 picks and highly regarded talent, stumbled, bumbled and collapsed in the face of a relentless Denver attack that moved smartly on the ground and in the air in recording a 31-3 victory before 75,307 in Mile High Stadium.

Bronco running back Terrell Davis, the NFL’s rushing leader and potentially its most valuable player, ran for three touchdowns to complement a John Elway passing attack. Elway completed 21 of 32 for 280 yards and a 15-yard touchdown pass to Rod Smith.

Davis, who introduced the military salute to pay respect to his teammates after scoring a touchdown, had it thrown back in his face by wide receiver Tim Brown and Coach Joe Bugel after the Raiders’ 28-25 victory in Oakland.

It became a foundation for revenge here all week, more fuel for a Bronco team already miffed at blowing a 13-0 lead to Kansas City last week and losing.

“We wanted to beat them, and beat them bad,” Elway said.

The Broncos, ahead 24-3, were still running the no-huddle offense with the intent of humiliating the Raiders.

“Mike [Shanahan] showed us that clip of Tim Brown and Bugel saluting us this week and he showed it to us more than once,” tight end Shannon Sharpe said. “We wanted to send a message, not only to the Raiders, but everyone else, because we knew we had everyone’s attention.

“To keep the Raiders to three points, that says something because of all their talent. But you know instead of looking at all that talent over there, maybe it’s time to look upstairs. You don’t have all that talent that the Raiders have and lose like they do year after year. Something is definitely wrong with that organization.”

The Raiders (4-8) will get an early start in fixing their problems, while Denver (10-2) is playoff-bound, improving its record at home to 21-2 under Shanahan, who was fired as coach of the Raiders by Al Davis.

“With the Raiders, you never know what you’re going to get,” Denver linebacker Bill Romanowski said. “They seem to have more talent than anyone in the league, but can never put it together.

“Maybe it goes to the owner; everyone knows who is in charge over there.”

Davis, a glum observer in the press box, cannot be pleased with a team that has compiled a 28-32 record in its last 60 games, making a commitment week after week to repeating its foolish ways:

* Raider wide receiver James Jett caught a 16-yard pass in a scoreless game early in the second quarter and fumbled. The Broncos recovered and scored three plays later.

* On second and 18, the Raiders had the Broncos in trouble and nearly intercepted an Elway pass. Then linebacker Rob Fredrickson was penalized for holding, giving Denver a first down and, one play later, a touchdown.

* On the first offensive play of the third quarter Jeff George hit Brown for an apparent 25-yard gain to ignite a potential Raider rally. But Brown was hit, the ball popped free and the pass was ruled incomplete. Six plays later, the Broncos scored.

* On fourth and two, the Raiders knocked down an Elway pass, but instead of taking possession, defensive lineman Anthony Smith was called for roughing the quarterback, giving Denver a first down, and, one play later, another touchdown.

Is Denver that good, or Oakland that bad?

“In the third quarter we really kind of took control of the football game,” said Shanahan, 5-1 against his former employer. “We had control of the tempo, and the game was basically over at that time.”

There were more than seven minutes remaining in the third quarter, a fourth quarter yet to play, and the Broncos were that dominant, the Raiders that pathetic.

“I don’t know if George quit in the third quarter, but he was a little tired of that pass rush of ours,” Denver cornerback Ray Crockett said, “and he pretty much wanted to get out of there.”

The Raiders had a dozen penalties, lost two fumbles, didn’t score a touchdown and still haven’t decided who will cover Sharpe, who caught 10 passes for 142 yards.

“I’ll just say the best team won tonight,” Bugel said.