The Broncos dismantled the rival Raiders in Oakland Sunday 23-3. Read the AP story about the game and vote for Sunday's MVP.
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OAKLAND, Calif. (AP)--All that offseason disfunction in Denver is a thing of the past. Josh McDaniels and Kyle Orton have the Broncos off to a 3-0 start.
Orton threw a touchdown pass to Brandon Marshall(notes), and rookie Knowshon Moreno ran for 90 yards and a score to lead the Broncos to a 23-3 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
McDaniels caused an immediate stir when he was hired to replace the fired Mike Shanahan as coach in Denver last offseason. He alienated Pro Bowl quarterback Jay Cutler before trading him to Chicago for Orton, then suspended Marshall in the preseason.
But once the season started, things couldn't have gone much better for the Broncos. They capitalized on a lucky bounce to win the opener at Cincinnati and followed that with convincing wins over Cleveland and Oakland (1-2).
The schedule gets considerably tougher starting next week against Dallas, but the Broncos have to be pleased with where they stand now.
Orton again played mistake-free football, going 13 for 23 for 157 yards. He has not thrown an interception in three games, a far cry from the flashier Cutler, who made more big plays last season but also more mistakes with 18 interceptions.
The Broncos have committed just one offensive turnover all season, and even that didn't end up hurting them. Two plays after Correll Buckhalter fumbled deep in Denver territory, Darren McFadden gave it right back to Denver with a fumble of his own.
That recovery by Brian Dawkins was just one of many big plays from coordinator Mike Nolan's defense. The Broncos have allowed just 16 points all season, getting six sacks from Elvis Dumervil the past two weeks.
The Raiders offense looked inept for a second straight week and this time the defense couldn't keep Oakland in the game long enough for JaMarcus Russell to steal one at the end, as he did last week in Kansas City.
The Raiders were held to 137 yards, their second straight week with less than 200 yards of offense. This is just the third time since the start of the 1993 season that Oakland has put together back-to-back games like that, with the other two coming under Art Shell in 2006.
Russell threw two first-quarter interceptions and was the target of boos all afternoon from the frustrated Raiders fans. Russell, who entered the game completing 35.2 percent of his passes, finished 12 for 21 for 61 yards, with only 1 passing yard in the second half.
Matt Prater kicked three field goals and Buckhalter added 108 yards on 14 carries for the Broncos.
The Broncos dominated the first half but only had a 13-3 lead to show for it. LaMont Jordan was stopped on a fourth-and-goal from the 1 to thwart their first drive and Denver had to settle for a field goal after driving inside the 5 late in the half.
The other 10 points were set up by interceptions thrown by Russell. He was picked off by Renaldo Hill following the goal-line stand when Darrius Heyward-Bey fell as his feet got caught up with a defender. That set up the 2-yard TD pass to Marshall.
The second interception by Andre Goodwin set up a 48-yard field goal by Prater. Russell put together one sharp drive in the second quarter, leading to a field goal by Sebastian Janikowski.
NOTES: Rich Gannon broadcast the game for CBS after the Raiders tried to ban their former QB from pregame production meetings. ... This was the 100th all-time meeting between AFL rivals, including two playoff games. The Raiders hold a 56-42-2 edge.