Tim Tebow leads Broncos over arch rival Raiders in Oakland

The Tim Tebow saga continues as the Denver Broncos traveled to the Bay Area in Northern California to take on a very good Oakland Raiders football team. The Raiders may have been coming off a devastating loss to the division rival Kansas City Chiefs in Week 9 (28-0), but with new starting quarterback Carson Palmer getting two weeks to work with his new squad the consensus was that the Broncos would be in for a long day against a much-improved Raiders’ offense.

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Along with one-time Pro Bowl quarterback Carson Palmer having two weeks to get back to form, the Oakland Raiders also added a familiar face into the mix by signing veteran wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh. With Houshmandzadeh playing six seasons with Palmer in Cincinnati, the receiving corps was thought to have a serious upgrade because the veteran could play as a slot receiver and give the Raiders’ offense that much more firepower.

Even though the addition of T.J. Houshmandzadeh was considered to be a huge upgrade for Carson Palmer, the new starting quarterback of the Oakland Raiders only went to his former teammate once for 28 yards. This reception was one of the best of the day for Palmer, but Houshmandzadeh was basically ineffective in his debut for the Raiders.

T.J. Houshmandzadeh

As for Carson Palmer, the veteran gunslinger definitely stepped up his game in Week 9 with 332 yards and three touchdowns. Those numbers might be impressive, but Palmer also threw three costly interceptions.

The loss of Pro Bowl running back Darren McFadden has really hurt the Oakland Raiders as of late, but backup running back Michael Bush has done well in his place as he racked up 129 total yards (96 rushing, 33 receiving) with the first receiving touchdown of his career. Unfortunately, Bush’s big day wasn’t good enough to put the team over the top as Tim Tebow and company got the job done on both sides of the football.

As perhaps the most criticized quarterback in the NFL today, Tim Tebow has had tremendous pressure on him all year long to play well and play well consistently. Despite winning two of the last three games as the starter, including this one, Tebow still hasn’t gotten the respect of his peers.

Fortunately, that might chance after Sunday’s win over the arch rival Oakland Raiders as Tim Tebow had arguably his best performance as a starter with 241 total yards (124 passing, 117 rushing) and two passing touchdowns. Even though Tebow definitely played much better than anticipated against the Raiders, veteran running back Willis McGahee stole the show with 163 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.

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With McGahee basically being a game-time decision with a serious hand injury, the Broncos’ running back may have earn the starting role from here on out with an impressive performance that led to the Denver Broncos third win of the season, 38-24.