Those Broncos were Raiders of a Lost Art.
It is hard to believe, but there was a time when Denver treated the Raiders like a homecoming opponent. It began in 1995 when Mike Shanahan took over as the Broncos head coach. Stiffed $200,000 in severance pay by owner Al Davis, Shanahan did things to the Raiders you wouldn’t wish on your worst enemy.
In his first game, the Broncos blitzed the Raiders 27-0. Coincidence? Yeah, right.
“Mike didn’t talk about it,” former Pro Bowl guard Mark Schlereth said, “but everyone knew it was personal.”
There was no need to look at the schedule. Raiders week announced itself through ramped-up intensity in the building, snarls replacing smiles, leaving employees walking around on edge. This game mattered like those between the Detroit Red Wings and Colorado Avalanche.
“In our defensive line room, our coach George Dyer made it clear that this one was a big one to the man. They owed him money,” star edge rusher Alfred Williams said. “They did him wrong. And Mike took care of us. He was fair. We wanted to do right by him. So, yeah, it meant more than any other one on the schedule.”
Shanahan won 11 of his first 12 games against the Raiders, outscoring Oakland by 127 points. He lost fewer games against the Raiders in 14 seasons than the Broncos have lost the past four years. His 21-7 record included eight yearly sweeps.
“We believed we could beat anybody during that time, especially the Raiders. We didn’t like them,” said Hall of Fame safety Steve Atwater, a key part of the 1997-98 back-to-back Super Bowl championship teams. “We were so confident in one another.”
There are times it feels like Shanahan’s departure and Davis’ death took this rivalry to its grave. But it still means something to Broncos Country (don’t tell Nathaniel Hackett). And no team has ever accomplished its goals by playing poorly in its division. The Broncos went 3-3 in the AFC West in 2023 and have posted seven straight losing seasons. This team knows more about humps than the camels in Abu Dhabi.
As the Broncos aspire for relevance, they can learn from their past. Acknowledging this is a rivalry is the first step toward injecting venom into the opposition.
“It is new ownership, new coaches, so many of the names have changed. With (owner) Mr. (Pat) Bowlen and Mr. Davis, and coach Shanahan and Mr. Davis, it was interwoven into the fabric for us,” standout fullback Howard Griffith said. “So, maybe you have to manufacture some of that dislike. But the fans don’t. They want it badly, and as players, it can start there.”
Part of the reason the Broncos stink against the Raiders is that they haven’t been any good. Neither have the Raiders, whether in Oakland or in Las Vegas, where Denver has never won. When the Broncos jogged out for warmups in empty Allegiant Field during the 2020 COVID-19 season, the PA system blared “A Horse With No Name” by America. This is the kind of disrespect that worked Shanahan’s teams into a lather.
“We would walk into the Oakland Coliseum and it was just annoying the shine they tried to give them,” Schlereth said. “We heard constantly that they were the only team to win a championship in the 1960s, ’70s and ’80s. And I was like, ‘Isn’t it the 1990s? When did you win last? 1983. OK.’ They had a history of being frontrunners, and it put a chip on our shoulder.”
It did not hurt that the Broncos did not like the Raiders’ style. Beyond the whistle was part of an outlaw reputation forged over decades.
“They played dirty. They had offensive linemen coming in and cleaning up the pile. I felt like it was over the edge,” Williams said. “We were not going to let that happen to us. We made up our mind that we were always going to be the aggressors against them.”
Denver Broncos Terrell Davis controls the ball against Oakland Raiders defense in the 1st quarter at Denver on Sunday, Jan. 2, 2002. (Photo by Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post)
From 1995 to 2001, the Broncos lost once to the Raiders. There was a common thread that can be instructive to the modern Broncos. Denver won on the ground, controlling the line of scrimmage. Of course, the Broncos had way better players — Hall of Famers John Elway, Terrell Davis, Shannon Sharpe, Gary Zimmerman and Atwater — but they also had grit that forged their mindset.
“We always talked about them being more talented than us. And we talked about being tougher. We knew for every one good stop they would get in the run game, we would get four explosives. They would play into our scheme by always doing the same stupid stuff,” Schlereth said. “It was about physically and mentally wearing them down. We knew they would eventually roll over. And we never would.”
There is some of this spunk developing with Vance Joseph’s defense. The unit has one first-round pick, leaving a lot of players who were overlooked or told they were not good enough. It has created a punch-first, ask-questions-later mentality.
“When you dive into our rosters, how many guys were drafted by the Broncos? How many were free agents? It wasn’t just talent. It was about getting the right people to run the system,” Griffith said. “We had complete buy-in. We didn’t want to let the guy next to us down. That is a big part of it.”
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For his part, Shanahan chose to keep a low profile this week. He wants the Broncos to win, but the attention focused on the 2024 Broncos and his friend Sean Payton.
But is it asking too much for the Broncos to channel his bitterness?
Eight is enough.
“I hate this losing streak,” Atwater said. “Broncos Country is going to show up big time. I like how we are playing. And it’s the Raiders. I saw someone walking down the street in a Raiders jersey, and I thought to myself, ‘What in the heck is he doing here?’ After all these years, I still wanted to yell at him.”
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