The NFL should send Christmas cards to the Broncos. Thanks to another home upset loss in December, this time to what was supposed to be the lowly Oakland Raiders on Sunday afternoon, the Broncos spread much cheer across the country.
By losing to the normally woeful Raiders 20-19 at Invesco Field at Mile High, the Broncos deeded renewed hope along the Eastern seaboard from Miami to the New Jersey Meadowlands. A little farther inland, the Broncos’ stumble resuscitated life into the once flat-lining Pittsburgh Steelers and Tennessee Titans.
Jacksonville and Houston had gagged in recent weeks, but to the rescue came the Broncos, who have made a late-season habit of pumping optimism into the mediocre.
And the Broncos all but handed an AFC wild-card playoff spot to Baltimore.
By losing a game in which they were a heavy favorite to win, the Broncos threw the AFC wild-card race into what so many cities not named Denver would describe as blissful chaos.
“You go from being able to win three and being in automatically to now you make it hard on yourself,” Broncos coach Josh McDaniels said.
“We’ve got to worry more about winning a game, because it is obvious that controlling our own destiny wasn’t good enough for us,” Broncos running back LaMont Jordan said.
What is it about these Broncos that produces so many September Sprints and December Disasters? In 2006, the Broncos under coach Mike Shanahan started 5-1 and 7-2. They lost the season finale, at home, to the 6-9 Mike Nolan-coached San Francisco 49ers and missed the playoffs with a 9-7 mark.
Last season, the Broncos were 8-5 with a three-game lead and three games to play. They lost all three, including at home to the woeful Buffalo Bills in Game 15, and missed the playoffs.
This year’s Broncos under McDaniels started 6-0. They have since lost six of their past eight, including defeats to Washington and Oakland, both of whom entered this week with 4-9 records.
There is something about the Broncos playing late in the season at home that inspires so many teams with nothing to play for to nevertheless play to win.
“In the NFL, you can’t tell how good a team is by their record,” said Broncos receiver Eddie Royal, who suffered a neck injury while making a catch in the third quarter and didn’t return.
“Everybody is good. Every team has good players. If you weren’t a good player, you wouldn’t have made it to the league.”
Had the Broncos held on Sunday against the latest late-season opponent they were supposed to beat at home — the Raiders won it with 35 seconds remaining when JaMarcus Russell, who came off the bench for the injured Charlie Frye, threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Chaz Schilens — Denver would have been able to clinch its first playoff berth since 2005 merely by winning one of its two remaining regular-season games.
Now, the Broncos may well have to win their final two games — at 10-4 Philadelphia next Sunday and home against the 3-11 Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 3 — to get in. Although, the Broncos are tied with Baltimore for the two wild-card spots at 8-6, the Ravens hold the head-to-head advantage and there are six AFC teams on their heels at 7-7.
If the Broncos end up 9-7 and tied with several other teams, the tiebreakers may work against them.
“We put ourselves in this predicament, so we have to get ourselves out of it,” said Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton, who played well under consistent duress, but could have played better with more time in the pocket. “There’s only one way to do that, and that’s work your (butt) off and work harder than you have all year and make sure you’re ready to play come Sunday.”
How did the rival Raiders rally to beat the Broncos in their final meeting for the third consecutive season? One, Oakland backs Michael Bush and Darren McFadden ran through the Broncos as if they were gashing the Denver D of 2007 and 2008.
And two, the Broncos’ offense just isn’t very good, especially in the red zone, where it matters most.
“Got to give the Raiders credit, but it’s not about them,” Jordan said. “When we look at that film, we’re going to be sick, looking at all the opportunities we let get away from us. It’s been the same in every loss that we’ve had.”
Russell, the Raiders’ beleaguered quarterback, did just enough on his final drive, most notably converting a fourth-and-10 with an 11-yard completion with 2:22 remaining.
“Going in, we had said the playoffs started today,” Broncos tight end Tony Scheffler said. “It’s about winning in December, winning after Thanksgiving, things we have been talking about since March. We put ourselves in a position to do that, but once again we didn’t convert down in the red area, and they did.”
Mike Klis: 303-954-1055 or mklis@denverpost.com
