Massive Michael Crabtree, Aqib Talib NFL brawl sparks ejections in rivalry game

Denver took possession at the Oakland 24-yard line with 47 seconds left in the first quarter after a perfectly executed strip-sack fumble by outside linebacker Shaquil Barrett, and although instant replay reversed a 20-yard touchdown pass from Lynch to Devontae Booker into a 19-yard gain, the Broncos still had first-and-goal at the Oakland 1 with a chance to reach the end zone and take a 7-0 lead.

Oakland Raiders receiver Michael Crabtree and Denver Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib have been ejected for mixing it up during the first quarter of a game at Oakland Alameda Coliseum. With 4:58 left in the third quarter, Lynch exited the game with an ankle injury and never returned. Last season, Talib snatched Crabtree’s chain during the last game of the regular season.

On just the Raiders second possession of the game, Crabtree blocked Talib to the ground out of bounds, causing Talib to retaliate and teammates from both sides to join in on the fight. Raiders’ guard Gabe Jackson was also ejected once the dust settled.

At that point, Talib threw a punch but did not connect with Crabtree. He still thought he played pretty well.

Paxton Lynch generated no points and one restrictive boot.

Against the Raiders on Sunday, Lynch went 9 of 14 for 41 yards, no touchdowns, one interception, and a 38.4 passer rating.

The Broncos have won the last two meetings, including a 16-10 earlier this season at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. Regardless of who Vance Joseph and McCoy felt “won” the job in the off-season, they were obviously wrong.

“This was the first week I had played with all these guys in a while”, Lynch said. “You can’t expect them to make all the plays for us”. However, Carr got his team going in this one, doing most of his damage without his top two wideouts in Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree. Johnny Holton and Cordarrelle Patterson both stepped up with big plays.

“We sat down on the bench and said, ‘Hey, we’re all we’ve got, and that’s going to have to do,”‘ Patterson said. Little did we know that the Raiders would take a “fighting chance” quite literal. The most historic meeting was on January 1, 1978, when the Broncos won 20-17 to claim the first of their eight AFC championships. “So I said, ‘Just let me get tackled right here.’ Save everybody the (trouble)”. “I don’t like losing”. “He came to fight”. The fight led to a much larger scuffle between the teams. He had 26 carries for 67 yards, averaging just 2.6 yards in his busiest day since coming out of retirement this season. That means they are in for another close game, and it’s the Raiders’ turn to win.

Cooper stayed prone on the field for a few minutes, and the cart was driven on to the field before he rose and walked off and into the locker room while leaning on a Raiders staffer. He ended up walking off on his own but is in the concussion protocol. I disagree with anyone who says the Broncos don’t know what they have in Lynch.

The problem wasn’t that it was simply an interception, it was an interception one yard away from a touchdown to a team that was historically bad at taking the ball away.