BRONCOS LOOK TO ROMP IN RAIDER NATION

Rookie Brandi of the Oakland Raiderettes is a highlight among lowlights. 

BRONCOS LOOK TO ROMP IN RAIDER NATION

You kind of get the feeling things aren’t going that well for a National Football League team when one of the top items on its pimped-up website gushes over the fact that Brandi has been named Top Cheerleader for Week 13.

Now, after examining the pictures very closely (smile), Brandi appears to be doing very well, even if her Oakland Raiders are sagging with a 3-9 record and losers of five straight.

It seems the ornery fans at O.co Coliseum are the only folks dressed in black and silver who will hurt you in Oaktown these days. What has 1,000 legs and 12 teeth? The front row at Raiders’ home games!

In a turf-divided city that brought you such socialites as the Black Panthers, Hells Angels and East Bay Dragons, Raider Nation used to be the place where rival players developed the mysterious 24-hour flu and missed games.

Now, the Raider games are circled on the calendars as opportunities to pad stats and pick up easy wins. And football blogs are filled with Raider-haters throwing more garbage at the Black Hole.

The Denver Broncos, sporting a 9-3 record and zipping along with a healthy Peyton Manning calling the shots at quarterback, are in Oakland for Thursday’s lone NFL game.

All the experts expect the powerful Broncos – third-best offence in the NFL and winners of seven straight -- to kick the hapless Raiders, who will be playing with heavy hearts as the 66-year-old father of head coach Dennis Allen passed earlier this week due to cardiac arrest.

This pick is too easy.

Broncos will make it another miserable night for Raider Nation, even if Brandi and the Raiderettes give it 110 per cent.