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McCown, Russell Share QB Kudos

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By JOSH DUBOW The Associated Press

Published: December 3, 2007

OAKLAND, Calif. - Josh McCown gave JaMarcus Russell credit for lifting the Oakland Raiders' energy level when he stepped on the field to make his NFL debut.

As far as making the plays to beat the Denver Broncos, that was all McCown.

McCown tied his career high with three touchdown passes despite getting booed when he replaced Russell late in the second quarter, and the Raiders capitalized on Denver's mistakes to beat the Broncos 34-20 Sunday.

Russell, the No. 1 overall draft pick out of LSU, made his long-awaited debut in the second quarter. He threw a 16-yard completion to Jerry Porter on his first play and moved Oakland downfield, but was unable to lead the Raiders to any points on his two drives.

"I tried to tell myself just to relax," Russell said. "It's the same thing that you do each and every day in practice. That's exactly what it felt like."

McCown was greeted with boos when he came back on the field, but turned those quickly to cheers when his 13-yard TD pass to Zach Miller with 50 seconds left in the half gave Oakland a 14-7 lead.

"I just was saying to myself, 'Let's go get another touchdown for our team,'" McCown said. "You understand that's going to happen. I'm happy for him. He's the top pick. He is the future. They've been waiting a while for him to play and they were excited to see him."

Russell entered to a standing ovation with 13:48 remaining in the second quarter, and finished 4-for-7 for 56 yards in his two series.

"He looked pretty good to me," Denver safety John Lynch said. "He looked poised. He's probably the biggest man I've seen at QB. He looks like he has a fluid arm."

Oak-Dwight 15 pass from McCown (Janikowski kick), 8:07.

Den-Henry 4 run (Elam kick), :46.

Second Quarter

Oak-Miller 13 pass from McCown (Janikowski kick), :50.

Third Quarter

Oak-FG Janikowski 38, 12:40.

Oak-Porter 13 pass from McCown (Janikowski kick), 10:55.

Den-FG Elam 29, 7:25.

Den-FG Elam 44, 1:37.

Fourth Quarter

Den-Henry 3 run (Elam kick), 11:21.

Oak-FG Janikowski 44, 8:56.

Oak-Fargas 5 run (Janikowski kick), 3:04.

A-61,990.

RUSHING-Denver, Henry 15-49, S.Young 7-28, Cutler 6-9, C.Sapp 1-0. Oakland, Fargas 33-146, McCown 4-22, Russell 3-4, Jordan 1-3.

PASSING-Denver, Cutler 16-32-2-214. Oakland, McCown 14-21-0-141, Russell 4-7-0-56.

RECEIVING-Denver, Marshall 6-67, Stokley 3-102, C.Sapp 3-4, S.Young 2-17, Scheffler 1-17, Walker 1-7. Oakland, Porter 5-49, Griffith 4-23, Miller 3-58, Curry 3-34, Fargas 2-18, Dwight 1-15.

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