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 But with only three minutes left in the first half, the Broncos
trailed the Raiders 10-6, and quarterback Peyton Manning had already
been intercepted twice.
The Broncos needed a spark, and they got one from an unlikely
source, third-string running back C.J. Anderson, a second-year
player out of Cal who grew up in the Bay Area city of Vallejo, not
far from the O.co Coliseum.
Anderson turned a short third-and-8 Manning swing pass into a
highlight-reel 51-yard touchdown, igniting a 35-0 Denver burst and
lifting the Broncos to a 41-17 victory.
"That was as fine a play as I've seen so far this season," said
Manning, who overcame his slow start to throw a season-high five
touchdown passes in just three quarters of work. "I thought they had
pretty good coverage on the play across the board. I thought I was
feeling somebody was kind of close to me. I didn't want to have a
sack in that situation.
"I don't know how many guys he made miss, but it was just an effort
play on his part. ... That really gave us a spark offensively and of
course the whole sideline was fired up. C.J. played great today."
 Denver (7-2) sent the Raiders to their ninth straight defeat this
season and 15th consecutive overall. The Broncos beat Oakland for
the sixth straight time, five of those with Manning at quarterback.
Manning completed 31 of 44 passes for 340 yards with five scores and
two interceptions before giving way to backup Brock Osweiler after
building a 31-point lead.
Anderson carried 13 times for a career-high 90 yards and caught four
passes for a career-high 73 yards and his first NFL touchdown.
Running back Ronnie Hillman, who has been starting in place of the
injured Montee Ball (groin), was slowed by an injured ankle. Ball
missed his fifth straight game.
Facing third-and-8 from the Denver 49, Manning, under pressure,
dumped a pass to Anderson in the left flat. Anderson slipped
linebacker Miles Burris' tackle, and linebacker Khalil Mack and
safety Charles Woodson failed to bring him down. Anderson cut across
the field, and didn't stop until he was in the end zone for a
touchdown with 2:44 showing.
"Peyton looked at me," Anderson said. "Obviously he was in trouble
because I didn't get a chance to finish my route. He threw it, and I
caught it. When I broke two tackles I said, 'I've got a chance for
the first down.' But when I saw (wide receiver Demaryius Thomas) and
(wide receiver) Wes (Welker) screaming down the field, I was like,
'I can cut back.'"
Broncos wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders caught five passes for 67
yards and two touchdowns, while tight end Julius Thomas grabbed six
passes for 63 yards and two touchdowns. Demaryius Thomas caught 11
passes for 108 yards.
"There seems to be a play every game that happens to us and then
everything kind of snowballs from there," Woodson said. "There were
a couple missed tackles, mine included, which I feel like, man, I'm
part of the play that really turned the game around. That's one I'll
be thinking about all night."
Raiders rookie quarterback Derek Carr completed 30 of 47 passes for
192 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions. Running back
Darren McFadden carried seven times for just 14 yards. Tight end
Mychal Rivera caught six passes for 64 yards and a touchdown.
The Broncos rolled up 471 total yards of offense to just 222 for
Oakland. The Raiders had 30 rushing yards.
After Anderson's touchdown, Denver forced a three-and-out and took
over on its 38 with 1:40 left in the half. Anderson gashed the
Raiders for 17 yards on first down, 12 more on second. Two plays
later, Manning lofted a 32-yard touchdown pass over Raiders
cornerback DJ Hayden to Sanders in the front right corner of the end
zone, putting Denver ahead 20-10.
The Broncos extended their lead to 27-10 with 12:43 left in the
third quarter on Manning's 10-yard touchdown pass to Julius Thomas,
capitalizing on a bizarre Raiders turnover.
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Under pressure deep in Oakland territory, Carr threw a desperation
pass over the middle to a spot he thought McFadden was supposed to
be. Instead, the pass went to offensive guard Khalif Barnes -- an
ineligible receiver -- who caught the ball but fumbled after getting
blasted by defensive end Malik Jackson.
Cornerback Chris Harris Jr. recovered at the 18, and Denver declined
the penalty on Barnes. Three plays later, Thomas beat Hayden for the
score.
"I wouldn't say he lost some of his composure," Raiders interim
coach Tony Sparano said of Carr. "They did a good job. They were
rushing the passer."
Manning's 32-yard touchdown pass to Julius Thomas on fourth-and-1
increased Denver's lead to 34-10 with 6:52 still left in the third
quarter. After Broncos safety T.J. Ward intercepted a Carr pass in
Raiders territory, Manning fired a 15-yard touchdown pass to
Sanders, making it 41-10 with 1:01 remaining in the third.
"We definitely started slow and that's something we can't do versus
good teams," Sanders said. "But I felt like late in the second
quarter, we got things rolling."
Carr threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Rivera with 48 seconds left
in the game, cutting Denver's lead to 41-17.
For much of the first half, the Raiders had their way with Manning,
who was intercepted by Hayden and defensive end Justin Tuck.
The Raiders grabbed a quick 3-0 lead on Sebastian Janikowski's
41-yard field goal, capitalizing on Hayden's interception of a
Manning pass on the second play of the game. Denver pulled even on
Brandon McManus' 20-yard field goal with 4:06 left in the first
quarter and moved ahead 6-3 when McManus connected from 28 yards
early in the second quarter.
The Raiders cashed in on Tuck's interception for a touchdown, Carr
hitting wide receiver Brice Butler on a 5-yard scoring strike with
11:19 left in the half.
On first down from Denver's 32, Manning tried to hit Julius Thomas
with a short pass, but Tuck deflected the pass at the line of
scrimmage, made a diving interception and returned seven yards to
the Denver 12. Three plays later, Carr hit Butler for a touchdown,
giving Oakland a 10-6 lead.
"We have to figure out ways to finish games," Tuck said. "One week
we start slow and finish great, the next week we start fast and
finish crappy. The games, regardless of who you are and who you
play, are always about momentum. You could see it. You could see it
when it happened. We have to figure out ways to come back to the
sideline, regroup and come back out and keep that intensity that we
had in the first 25 minutes of the game.
"Obviously that's a great team over there and they're going to make
plays but we have to figure out a way to, when they make a play,
come back and make another one and keep them on the ropes. We
weren't able to do that today."
NOTES: Raiders starting CB Carlos Rogers (knee) and backup CBs
Chimdi Chekwa (hamstring) and TJ Carrie (ankle) were inactive for
Sunday's game. ... Raiders CB DJ Hayden made his first start of the
season but left the game late in the third quarter with a groin
injury. ... Broncos starting RT Paul Cornick (shoulder) was
inactive. RG Louis Vasquez moved to right tackle, C Manny Ramirez
moved to right guard, and backup center Will Montgomery started.
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