Lightning does not strike twice. Neither does Sebastian Janikowski.
An act of God stopped the game seven seconds into the second quarter.
Timeout.
An act of Shanahan stopped the game 227 seconds into the overtime.
Timeout.
There was lightning in the sky and thunder in the Rockies as the Broncos zapped the Raiders on Sunday afternoon.
Janikowski flashed and burned. Jason Elam déjà-viewed.
Oakland’s enigmatic, lead-footed and pot-bellied kicker made a 52-yard field goal in OT to beat the Broncos.
Let the Raiders’ rejoicing begin. They celebrated like Roman senators after the Battle of Actium and frat boys at a toga party.
But, wait just a minute! Hold everything!
Mike Shanahan had called for a timeout just before the ball was snapped. Get a T.O., Shanny. Just after the successful kick, referee Walt Anderson announced that the field goal didn’t count. The Raiders were guilty of premature elation.
The do-over by Janikowski, The Iced Man, hit the left upright. Clank.
You know what had to happen next. The Broncos got the ball at their 42, progressed down the field, and Jason Elam – back for an encore after the last-second field goal in Buffalo – zipped a 23-yard field goal. Take another bow, Jason.
Oakland coach Lane Kiffin forgot to call his own timeout to ice Elam.
Lucky Luciano never was this lucky two straight weeks. Luck, don’t be a lady; be a Bronco.
The Broncos’ finishing kick has been a winner, but is becoming monotonous.
Timing, of course, seems to be everything for the Broncos.
Let’s go to the head horse’s mouth.
Shanahan, on the 25-minute suspension of the game because of lightning near the stadium: “It happened in ’82, playing Georgia Tech, when I was at the University of Florida. We were getting beat at that time, and we came back to beat them. I felt pretty lucky that it went the other way today.”
What the coach meant to say was that he felt pretty lucky that it didn’t go the other way on Sunday.
Shanahan, on his timeout request: “Well, you want to get it down there when their kicker is focused and ready to kick. … When he started to look up is when I called it.”
A genius for calling an overtime timeout?
Most coaches signal for a timeout in that type of situation before the kicker sets up. Maybe it disrupted Janikowski’s rhythm and flow. Maybe, on the second try, Dré Bly’s torrid rush from the outside unsettled Janikowski. Maybe he’s a flake, just like other kickers, but more so as a former first-round draft choice who occasionally has stepped out of bounds. He missed three field-goal attempts in the Raiders’ first game.
Elam missed his third field goal of the season, but ended up making three of the pitching-wedge variety – 23 yards with 18 seconds left in the first half, 20 yards with 2:18 left in the fourth quarter (for the tie) and 23 yards with 5:48 left in overtime (for the victory).
If my finger had been on the button when the Broncos had fourth-and-two at the Oakland 2, somehow trailing 20-17 with time running out in regulation, I would have gone for the touchdown to decide the outcome right there, right then. Shanahan chose to kick to tie, which occurred. It turned out well after Janikowski’s double-trouble kick, and that’s one of the many reasons I’m not the Broncos’ coach.
The Broncos duplicated the Raiders’ celebration, and it stuck.
Yet, they’ve got to score more if they want to be serious about winning the division. An average of 19 a game won’t get it, and is reminiscent of last season when the Broncos were under-producing 10, 9, 17, 13, 13 and 17 to start the season, and depending almost totally on the defense. Bly & Bailey, who each had interceptions, are better than Barnum & Bailey. Bly’s sensational pick shut down the Raiders’ final drive of the fourth quarter.
This is a defense every mother would love. Giving up an average of 17 points per is special.
The Raiders are into moral victories these days; the Broncos aren’t. But they can’t win on field goals and/or in overtime in every game.
Or can they?
Jay Cutler threw for 269 yards, and Travis Henry ran for 128, but Cutler also was picked off twice. In the Broncos’ 12 possessions, only two resulted in TDs. They can’t take that stuff to Indianapolis in a couple of weeks or bring it home against San Diego a week later. Cutler still is too spotty. “Kind of, you’d like to make it an easier day at the office, but we’re having fun out there,” Kid QB said.
It wouldn’t have been as much fun if the Broncos had opened 0-2 instead of 2-0.
They were forced to scatter because of the lightning in the second quarter, and they were almost struck by Janikowski’s lightning in the overtime.
But the lucky Broncos avoided a natural disaster and an unnatural calamity.
Staff writer Woody Paige can be reached at 303-954-1095 or wpaige@denverpost.com.
