They brought in cornerback DeAngelo Hall through a trade with Atlanta and signed strong safety Gibril Wilson in free agency. It gave the Raiders a Pro Bowl corner to pair with exclusive franchise free agent Nnamdi Asomugha and a physical presence in Wilson which enabled Michael Huff to move to his more natural position of free safety.

Then Jay Cutler and the Denver Broncos, playing without top receiver Brandon Marshall, made a shambles of the Raiders and left them searching for answers following a 41-14 opening game loss on Monday night.

Cutler completed 16 of 24 passes for 299 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, a quarterback rating of 137.3. Eddie Royal, a rookie second-round draft pick, caught nine passes for 146 yards.

Most of the damage came with Cutler throwing to his right and attacking Hall without mercy, while Asomugha went virtually unchallenged on the other side.

The Raiders had no sacks and never even broke up a pass.

"This game we knew we were good in the pass and they beat us with the pass," Asomugha said. "That kind of caught us off guard a little bit."

Asomugha conceded Broncos coach Mike Shanahan had devised a scheme which left the Raiders confused.

"We had checks that we were going to do based on what Shanahan showed us, based on formations," Asomugha said. "But a lot of times the checks were only heard on one side of the field, and there were blown coverages."

Hall made no excuses.

"They just out-schemed us. They outplayed us. We didn't show up at all," Hall said. I think we've played against better, but who cares? They came out and dominated us from start to finish. (Royal) looked like an All-Pro guy."

The Raiders pass defense wasn't helped by a non-existent pass rush. Oakland did not sack Cutler and rarely even got in his face despite having a rookie left tackle in Ryan Clady and a first-time starter at right tackle in Ryan Harris.

Kalimba Edwards, the Raiders' nickel rusher who plays on the opposite side of Burgess, did not play because of a groin injury.

"I thought coming into the game we'd have more success with our rush with two offensive tackles making their first starts," Raiders coach Lane Kiffin said. "They did a really good job."