National Football League

Raiders spoil Tebow's 1st start with 39-23 win

Published Dec. 20, 2010 5:09 a.m. ET

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Tim Tebow showed off the athleticism that made him so heralded in college when he scored on a 40-yard run in his first NFL start despite running the wrong play.

It will take a lot more than that for Tebow to will his team to victory the way he did so often at Florida.

Jason Campbell threw a 73-yard touchdown pass to Marcel Reece in the fourth quarter to help the Oakland Raiders overcome Tebow's two long touchdowns and beat the Denver Broncos 39-23 Sunday.

''He earned a lot of respect from me today,'' Raiders defensive tackle Tommy Kelly said of Tebow. ''He's a lot better athlete than you think he is. You heard so much about him and then you play him. He made a couple moves out there today that surprised me. I think he's got a bright future.''

The Raiders (7-7) still have a future because they responded to last week's wrenching 38-31 loss at Jacksonville with their fifth straight division win.

Jacoby Ford scored on a 71-yard run on Oakland's first play from scrimmage and Michael Bush added two short touchdown runs.

Oakland trails Kansas City by two games in the AFC West and will need to win the final two games and get help in order to win the division.

''I wish we were in a better position, but to still be in the fight, still be in the hunt, we've grown a long ways,'' Campbell said. ''The loss last week is not going to do any good for us to dwell on it. It's not going to help us this week. What we have to do is control what's in front of us from here out.''

The Broncos (3-11) have long been eliminated from the playoff chase, having lost nine of 10 games to tie the franchise record for losses in a season. That, along with Kyle Orton's bruised ribs, made the decision to give Tebow his first career start an easy one.

For a player who became famous in college for his exploits at the Swamp, Tebow must have felt at home on a wet day at the Oakland Coliseum.

''It was nice to be able to get out there and play football again,'' he said. ''I love that. I definitely have the confidence in myself to be able to play at this level, and I'm just thankful that the Denver organization had enough confidence in me to bring me in and give me this opportunity.''

He managed to come up with some of the big plays that helped him win a Heisman Trophy and two national titles at Florida, becoming the third player to throw a TD pass of at least 30 yards and run for a score of at least 40 in the same game.

But he also did not look smooth throwing the ball, a big reason why many questioned former Denver coach Josh McDaniels for trading up to take Tebow in the first round of the draft. He finished 8 for 16 for 138 yards and ran for 78 more.

''You're playing against the biggest, strongest, fastest, but at the end of the day, it's still playing football and so it wasn't extremely different,'' Tebow said.

The key play for the Raiders was Campbell's short pass to Reece that turned into a game-breaker. Reece caught the ball near the line of scrimmage with open space in front of him. He juked David Bruton near midfield and raced the rest of the way to make it 30-20.

The Broncos responded with Steven Hauschka's third field goal, but Quentin Groves tackled Correll Buckhalter in the end zone for a safety that put the Raiders back in control.

The Raiders took a 23-20 lead into the fourth quarter after Sebastian Janikowski's 47-yard field goal. The teams traded field goals earlier in the third with the Broncos settling for theirs after Lance Ball dropped a pass in the end zone.

Tebow turned two Raiders turnovers into touchdowns in the first half. He scored on a 40-yard draw that was supposed to be a handoff on third-and-24 when he ran through the middle of Oakland's defense and then broke tackles from safeties Michael Huff and Tyvon Branch.

Tebow then threw a ball up for grabs in the end zone that went through cornerback Stanford Routt's hands and was caught by Brandon Lloyd for a 33-yard touchdown.

''He handled the entire environment well for us,'' interim coach Eric Studesville said. ''He managed the offense, he called everything, he got us in and out of checks and he ran our offense, which is what a quarterback has to do.''

The Raiders got some big plays of their own, with Ford scoring on a 71-yard end around on Oakland's first play from scrimmage and a 36-yard run by Darren McFadden setting up another touchdown.

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