The Oakland Raiders 2008 / 2009 season got off to a rocky start Monday night as they fell to the Denver Broncos 41 to 14 on the second half of a Monday Night Football double header. Before a nationally televised audience, the Raiders looked unable to stop a dominating performance by the Jay Cutler led Broncos.

It was the 6th straight season opening game loss for Oakland. Cutler diminished any doubts about his health as he threw for 16 of 24 passes for 299 yards and 2 touchdowns and no interceptions. Before the season started, one thing the Raiders were confident about was their ability to defend against the pass, bringing in CB DeAngelo Hall from Atlanta and signing SS Gibril Wilson in free agency. The addition of Hall gave Oakland a Pro Bowl corner to pair with exclusive free agent Nnaamdi Asomugha giving the Raiders what looked on paper like a solid backfield to cover pass defense.

Oakland may be left scrambling for answers as to what happened after Cutler’s performance against them Monday night. Most of the damage came with the Denver QB throwing right and attacking Hall all night, while went virtually unchallenged on the other side. Oakland had no sacks and never even broke up a pass. “This game we knew we were good in the pass, and they beat us with the pass – they kind of caught us off guard a little bit. We had checks that we were going to do based on what Coach Shanahan showed us, based on formations, but a lot of times the checks were only heard on the left side of the field and there were blown coverages” said Asomugha.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the field, Hall made no excuses, saying ” They just out-schemed us. They out played us. They came out and dominated us from start to finish” The Raiders pass defense wasn’t helped by a non-existent pass rush. ” I thought coming into the game we’d have more success with our rush with two offensive tackles ( rookie left tackle Ryan Clady and first time starter right tackle Ryan Harris ) making thier first starts” said Coach Kifflin. Oakland committed five personal fouls – including 2 in one drive on DeAngelo Hall.

They also botched a reverse play for a 15 yard loss. Oakland was dominated on both sides of the ball in a performance that by the end, drew plenty of boos from a frustrated Raider crowd. With an NFL worst 19 – 62 record since 2004, the Raiders were hoping to start the season with a win against the Broncos featuring JaMarcus Russell and number one draft pick Darren McFadden. Russell was frequently under pressure in his second career start, throwing for 17 passes on 26 attempts for 180 yards and 2 late game touchdowns – an 8 yard strike to newly acquired receiver Ashley Lelie, and a 4 yard toss to Ronald Curry.

Russell fumbles the ball to put an end to Oakland’s best drive of the first half. Russell was quoted as saying ” When things don’t happen too good for the team, you kind of get the sense that you wish you could have done more, but i think I did pretty good. You’ve just got to hone in on the small things like ball security and not give them anything easy on defense.” Rookie running back Darren McFadden split time with Justin Fargus, ending up with 57 yards from scrimmage – 9 carries for 46 yards and 1 reception for 11 yards. On Russell’s fumble, he was open on the slip screen, and could have had his first NFL regular season touchdown.

The Raiders also showed their willingness to get D-Mac involved by lining him up in the backfield as receiver, and even lining up as QB. Darren did leave the game late with a stinger and did not return. Said McFadden, ” Everything was pretty much what I expected, there wasn’t any real surprises or anything. My performance wasn’t very stellar or anything, but I made it through, I guess.” Fargus ended up with 97 yards on 18 carries, including a 42 yard run late with the game already out of reach. With a total of 150 yards on 31 carries with an average of 4.8 yards a carry, The Raiders only had 5 rushing first downs.

All in all, the Raiders looked and played sloppy and unprepared for a team and a game they have been prepping for months for. Especially on defense, the Raiders looked several steps behind Broncos coach Shanahan. Oakland coach Kiffin said after the game, ” It is extremely disappointing. Since I have been here we have played well at home. Even when we lose, we are in almost every game in the fourth quarter. I was shocked with the results tonight.”

Once the Kings of Monday Night Football, the Raiders have not won a Monday night game in their last 6 tries, being outscored 173 – 41. Coach Kifflin and the rest of the Raiders are facing a short week as they prepare for their next opponent on Sunday when they face another division rival in the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.