2020 Long Island EFL WEEK#7 Denver Broncos (3-3) vs. Las Vegas Raiders (2-4)

Long island EFL · November 26, 2020

November 26, 2020 Denver Broncos (3-3) vs. Las Vegas Raiders (2-4)

LIEFL MAIN PAGE: https://forum.tudorgames.com/files/category/39-2020-long-island-efl-standings-coaches-current-rankings-schedule-2019-leaders-and-liefl-all-time-wins-loss-records/

DENVER BRONCOS (3-3)

Coach Paddy Brannigan (12-16)

Happy Thanksgiving! And, our Thanksgiving Day 10am Tradition continues in the Long Island EFL! On Thanksgiving Day last season we saw the Miami Dolphins beat the then Oakland Raiders 38-34 in the AFC Wild Card Game, and in the NFC we saw the Los Angeles Rams beat the San Francisco 49ers 38-34 in the NFC Wild Card Game! This year's playoffs will begin Saturday November 28, 2020 with the AFC Wild Card Game at 6pm with the #2 vs. #7 teams, and then the #2 vs. #7 NFC Wild Card Game will be played at 8pm! In the AFC it looks like #2 might be the Indianapolis Colts at (6-1), against the #7 Denver, Broncos (3-3), Las Vegas Raiders (2-4), or Cincinnati Bengals (3-4). In the NFC it looks like it will be #2 two-time defending LIEFL-Super Bowl XIV, XV, Champion Los Angeles Rams (5-1) against the #7 New York Giants (4-3), Seattle Seahawks (3-3), Arizona Cardinals (3-3), Chicago Bears (4-3), or Philadelphia Eagles (4-3). If Seattle wins, they may have the strongest change to be the Wild Card Team with the better conference record at (3-2), but Slawson does the figuring.

The season finale for the Denver Broncos (3-3) and the Las Vegas Raiders (2-4) is immense in this AFC West matchup. It's WAR ON! The thorn that may end up stuck in the side of Denver is their October 5th loss in WEEK#5 to New Orleans on the Broncos home turf, losing to the Saints 17-14, in a huge upset. That one hurt. But, the Broncos, Raiders, or Bengals can make headway by advancing as the last Wild Card team in the AFC! If Denver wins, they are in with the better division record than Cincinnati, and if Las Vegas wins, they can be spoilers to the Broncos, but since they Raiders lost to the LA Chargers 14-10, and the Bengals beat the LA Chargers 20-14 in WEEK#1, in OT, this poses the question to our League Statistician Andrew Slawson will make the final decision after the game!

The architect behind the rebuilding of one of the most prolific teams in the history of the Long Island Electric Football League is Denver Coach, Paddy Brannigan. Brannigan, who faces his best friend Kevin Maloney's Raiders today, recalls when he brought this Broncos team into the league in 1977. "I remember the TTC bottoms and the immediate impact they had in our league, going from those original and incredible rookie player bases, which were like lightning, to the powerful blocking TTC player bases. It was an awakening in our league. These coaches in this league aren't just outstanding football knowledge, they played the game, and they are really smart people as professionals, so it's like a chess match. My Broncos went (11-3) in our first season in the league, and I was about 15 or 16 years-old. We beat Billy O'C's then undefeated Miami Dolphins who were on a 66 game win streak and tear, 7-5, in a regular season game! I REMEMBER BEING SO PROUD. It was the talk of the league and outside leagues because O'C competed against everyone and anyone, but we beat his almighty Dolphins, and we beat them good. That became my legacy in the Long Island Electric Football League! Back in 1977, to my disappointment, my Broncos couldn't get to the best level and we were in the NFC at the time, losing in the NFC Championship Game to the Green Bay Packers 14-10, but for four straight years we won the division, and for some reason, we just couldn't win the big show because those Dolphins stopped us each time, but in 1984, I won a 20 man tournament in Bay Shore, New York with the Broncos! I actually played coach Levi Vick in the semi-finals believe it or not and the Broncos beat his Eagles 3-0!"

Today, Brannigan's Broncos are a different story in the LIEFL. These 2020 Broncos have focused on rebuilding the last two seasons, and what we are seeing, we are liking. Brannigan has drafted well and built a star behind the line that blocks for Terrell Davis. Davis, currently leads the league in all-purpose yardage with 49 carries for 1730 yards, with 14 touchdowns, six of them for 100 yards! It's been a record setting season for Davis and he is close to breaking LA Chargers, LaDanian Tomlinson's 2019 All-Purpose Yard record of 1779 yards, and 16 touchdowns! One thing for sure is Terrell Davis is going to bring on the challenge as the Broncos fight their way for an opportunity to play in the postseason for the first time since 1992!

Davis and Tomlinson will most likely be the AFC starting Pro-Bowl running backs this year. The two have a combined total yardage of 3370 yards with 27 touchdowns! That's a lot of firepower in this challenging league. This season the LIEFL will play a January Tournament against four other LIEFL and New York City Leagues. Our four top teams will compete!

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LAS VEGAS RAIDERS (2-4)

Coach: Kevin "Mac" Maloney (10-15)

The Las Vegas Raiders (2-4), on the other hand are no joke. They are still trying to adapt to the Vegas atmosphere, and for the past few seasons they've had an extremely challenging schedule. Raiders star tight end and five-time LIEFL Pro Bowler Dave Casper, has found a way to get the job done basically keeping Las Vegas in contention to this point. Casper was the LIEFL AFC's top dog last season as the #1 all-purpose player in the AFC with 15 carries for 1323 yards, and a personal best, record-setting seven 100 yard kick returns for touchdowns! This season Casper is ranked #8 in the AFC with 21 carries for 1146 yards with five touchdowns!

Raiders running back Bo Jackson has not seen much action, but this team does not want to be embarrassed by the Broncos at home on their home turf, in their last game of the season. Their goal is to knock the Broncos out of the playoffs and barge their way in like the New York Jets did against New England this week! Actually, don't forget, this Raiders team was the 2008, LIEFL-Super Bowl XI Champion! As the league improved through the LIEFL Draft, the intensity, the talent, and productivity for each team has also grown leaps and bounds. The Raiders will finish high in the draft again as they seek to rebuild their linebacking core. This game will be exciting to watch!

BRONCOS CLINCH PLAYOFF BERTH WITH DEFENSE!

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November 26, 2020, Las Vegas, Nevada. The star players met at the 50 yard line to show off their LIEFL custom uniforms and decals for a photo-op before the game.

On the opening kick return for the Raiders LIEFL All-Pro Dave Casper, ran back in this season finale against the Denver Broncos. Consider this game a playoff game because the winner can make it to a fabulous post season challenge! Casper, the star of LIEFL Super Bowl XI in 2008, with two 100 yard touchdowns to beat the New York Giants 27-21, ran the ball back Dave Casper took the ball back 36 yards and he was met head-on with a hard hit by Denver tackle, Andy Muaer!

The Raiders already started out with a penalty for 10 men on the field, as coach Maloney forgot his 11th man in his case, bringing the ball back 5 yards on second down. After the Broncos stopped Las Vegas running back Bo Jackson on second down, they were forced to pass on third down, coming up 20 yards short, giving Denver the advantage. Las Vegas was forced to punt after being shut down on their opening drive by a very tough Denver defense! On an absolutely spectacular play Terrell Davis ran a scorching 100 yard kick return back for the touchdown to light up the scoreboard for Denver 7-0, with 8:47 left to go in the half!

On the next kickoff, Casper took it back 41 yards met again by Andy Muaer at the 41-yard line with 6:17 left to go in the half! Muar has Casper's number today!

On first down the Denver defense pounced on Bo Jackson for a loss at the 33-yard line with Paul Smith making the tackle for the Denver defense. On second down Jackson got pushed back again by Denver to the 30-yard line, 11 yards shy of the line of scrimmage, with another forced pass play for the Raiders. Wow!

On a beautiful pass play from Las Vegas quarterback Derrick Carr, Tim Brown took it 70 yards downfield into the end zone to tie the game at 7-7 with 48 seconds left in the half! The Raiders won't go down easy!

One play later Denver star player, Terrell Davis returned the kick 35 yards and Tim Brown made the tackle as the first half came to a close! On the first play of the second half, Davis exploded for 31 yards on the Broncos first possession, taking the ball all the way to the Las Vegas 34 yard line! Davis and the Broncos wasted no time, as he exploded behind that wall of Mecklenberg, Paul Smith, and Neil Smith, running for another first down for 11 yards! Denver is playing like a playoff team, and it's not looking good for the Bengals right now as the Broncos dominate Las Vegas! Davis bullied his way for a 7-yard run, then he had a first down with a 3-yard run, and another 7-yard run on the next set of downs, taking the ball to the Raiders 5-yard line as the Broncos threatened again with 8:19 left to go in the game! Denver beat up the clock on the first two runs from the five, and the Las Vegas defense came alive and stopped the Broncos on second and third down, but on fourth down Denver quarterback John Elway threw a rocket to a wide open Rob Lytle, who caught a beautiful pass in the end zone to give the Denver a 14-7 lead with just 3:19 left to go in the game! What a play!

On the ensuing kick return, Dave Casper and the ball back 42-yards for the Raiders with 1:17 left to go in the game, with time running out. On first down Carr hit Casper for a 19 yard first down, but the Raiders ran out of time kicking a 41 yard field-goal as the Denver Broncos beat the Las Vegas Raiders, eliminating the Raiders and Cincinnati Bengals from the 2020 playoffs! Wow!