Orton, Broncos punished by physical Raiders

It didn’t even take three full quarters for some Broncos fans to start chanting for Tim Tebow on Monday night. Unless they wanted Tebow to take over a spot on the offensive line, his presence probably wouldn’t have mattered much anyways.
Denver wound up on the short end of a 23-20 tally in its season-opener, a crushing defeat against AFC West rival Oakland, and from the sound of it — “Te-bow! Te-bow! Te-bow!” — the home crowd was ready to pin that loss on Kyle Orton.
No, Orton wasn’t at his best Monday, hitting just 18 of his 37 passes, throwing an interception and simply dropping the ball while he set to throw for a second turnover. But everything he did came with the Raiders’ defensive line in his face. Oakland recorded four sacks and forced Denver to commit numerous holding penalties.
Even on Denver’s final scoring drive, which pulled the Broncos within three, Orton took hit after hit but managed to get his team into the end zone.
Denver and Oakland combined for 25 penalties in a chippy, drawn-out, sloppy mess of a game. Aside from some discipline problems, it was exactly what the Raiders wanted. Their defensive line dominated Denver’s front, most of the time accomplishing that goal without bringing a blitz.
The pressure resulted in a distressed Orton and a nonexistent Denver running game — Knowshon Moreno had just eight carries for 22 yards and Orton’s 13-yard scramble was the Broncos’ longest rush of the game.
Oakland has now won eight in a row within the AFC West, dating back to a Week 15 victory at Denver in 2009. The Raiders followed that up with a 6-0 intra-division mark in 2010 and Monday’s win.
Unfortunately for the Broncos, this was supposed to be their party, a national-TV audience tuning in to see how new head coach John Fox was going to turn things around after a 4-12 season. Instead, Denver was physically manhandled by a better team.

And this quarterback issue? It’s not going away.
There were rumors once the lockout ended that Denver wanted to trade Orton, who’s in the final year of a two-year deal. The fact that the Broncos kept him and Fox committed to him as the team’s No. 1 QB meant little to a fan base that seems to adamantly believe that Tebow is their future.
That attitude will no doubt pin the goat label on Orton with Denver off to an 0-1 start.
It was pretty apparent for much of Monday, though, that the Broncos had their work cut out for them. A Jacoby Ford fumble deep in Oakland territory gift-wrapped Denver’s only three points of the first half, as the Raiders stormed out to a commanding 16-3 halftime lead.
They deserved every bit of that lead, too, and certainly earned the win. While the questions swirl in Denver, we have to consider the possibility that Oakland is a legitimate threat in the AFC West.
Quarterback Jason Campbell, a maligned figure in his own right, played a controlled game, throwing for 105 yards and accounting for a pair of touchdowns. Darren McFadden, meanwhile, knocked out 150 yards on the ground and Sebastian Janikowski nailed three field goals, including an NFL record-tying 63-yarder.
Then there’s the defense. If there is one spot where you can clearly see how much the Raiders have improved from the past couple of years, it’s up front on D. Oakland is aggressive and tough, both traits that were put on display over and over again Monday.
Orton took the brunt of that Oakland attack, and in turn, bore the weight of the Broncos fans’ angst.
But it’s hard to blame Orton for Denver’s loss when his offensive line never even gave him a chance

Miami Dolphins lose season opener to New England Patriots

All of those questions about Chad Henne’s potential. All of those wonders about this year’s offense. All of those expectations for this Dolphins defense. Turn all of it around. And some of it upside down.
On a night that shredded most every hypothesis about this season — except the one about struggling to cover tight ends — the Dolphins surely managed to spin the heads of a fan base wondering what to take from a 38-24 loss to the Patriots.
Was this version of Henne, often decisive and sharp, the version to expect every week? Is this secondary, the one that gave up more than 500 passing yards, really going to provide this many issues moving forward?
“We didn’t execute well at all today on our side of the ball,” linebacker Karlos Dansby said. “The offense played outstanding — and we let them down.”
This game wasn’t just baffling in many capacities. It was also historical.
Never have two teams combined for more net passing yards (906) than Tom Brady and Henne managed Monday. The game broke a 1986 record when the Dolphins and the Jets combined for 884 passing yards in a Jets 51-45 overtime win.
Unacceptable dayThis time, the outcome also favored the opponent.

“He had how many yards?” cornerback Sean Smith asked about Brady’s career-high numbers, which were the fifth-highest in NFL history. “He had 517? I definitely didn’t know it was like that. I knew they were getting chunk plays, but 517 yards is unacceptable.”
Regardless of the air show both quarterbacks conducted, hundreds of fans were clearly more concerned about the defensive concerns than the offensive success. Many shuffled out of the stadium with 9:49 remaining in the game despite a deficit of only 14 points.
Maybe they knew what was coming next.
Those departed fans managed to miss out on an incomplete pass on fourth down from the 1, when the Dolphins called a failed fade route to receiver Brian Hartline.
Those fans also managed to miss the following play, when the Patriots took over on downs and Brady completed a 99-yard touchdown pass to Wes Welker. As for the remaining fans, they couldn’t get out fast enough.
“They didn’t do anything we didn’t see on tape,” linebacker Kevin Burnett said. “They executed better than we did.”
Brady finished 32 for 48 with four touchdowns and an interception. He shredded the Dolphins with nearly every one of his weapons, but he mostly utilized his tight ends.
The tight end combination of Aaron Hernandez and Rob Gronkowski combined for 189 yards on 13 catches with three touchdowns, causing continued concern about the Dolphins’ ability to cover a position that has given the team fits for years.
But the coverage of the tight ends wasn’t the only issue. The cornerbacks also struggled, as both Vontae Davis and Sean Smith dealt with cramping issues in the second half. And the pressure on Brady was often also insufficient.
The struggles on defense certainly came as a considerable surprise, given the team returned 10 of 11 starters after ranking sixth in the NFL last season. True, the Patriots are expected to have one of the most powerful offenses in the league. But more than 500 passing yards powerful?
The dismal defensive performance drowned out most of the optimism that Henne managed to muster for the offense. If his Monday performance is any indication, though, the Dolphins should be able to put up far more points this season.

Penn State's Wisniewski to join uncle with Oakland Raiders

 

Nepotism is alive and well - very well, in fact - with the Oakland Raiders.
But the fact Stefen Wisniewski's uncle, Steve Wisniewski, was an eight-time Pro Bowl selection for the Raiders and is now their assistant offensive line coach is not the overriding reason why Oakland selected the All-America guard for Penn State with their first pick of the 2011 draft, No. 48 overall, last night. Sentimentality is nice at family reunions, but productivity is always an NFL team's first consideration.
Oakland did not have a first-rounder in the draft, which opened Thursday night, having sent it to the New England Patriots last year in exchange for former Pro Bowl defensive lineman Richard Seymour.
"Just because Steve was there didn't necessarily mean it was going to happen," said Eddie Johnson, of Eastern Athletic Services, which represents Wisniewski. "Need dictated the pick more than anything. And, of course, the Raiders had a lot of knowledge about Stefen, as a football player and as a person."
Stefen acknowledged being "thrilled" to be going to what was his favorite team growing up.
"It's pretty awesome, in general, to be drafted, but even more so, going to the Raiders," he said amid the clatter of "60 or 70" friends and relatives crammed inside a house in Bridgeville, Pa., where they gathered to watch the draft on television. "I grew up cheering for the Raiders because of my uncle. Now I get to play for them. I still can't believe it."
Wisniewski, a 3-year starter for the Nittany Lions, played center his junior season in Happy Valley and was a third-team All-America. He was switched back to right guard for his senior campaign, a position at which he said he felt most comfortable. Most projections had him listed as a center, however, and former Raiders defensive back and Hall of Famer Willie Brown announced him as such at the draft.
"Coach [Hue] Jackson told me I'd be playing center when he called," said Wisniewski, who graduated with a 3.91 grade-point average in secondary education. "I'm fine with that. I just want to be able to contribute wherever I'm needed."
The Raiders are coming off an 8-8, non-playoff season, but went 6-0 against AFC West rivals.
"It's definitely a team on the rise," Wisniewski said. "They're going in the right direction. I'm exciting about having the chance to help them continue going in the right direction." *