OAKLAND, Calif. -- In 1995, Terrell Davis started the Broncos' tradition of considering himself a soldier and exchanging salutes with teammates after touchdowns. Little did he know that five years later, he'd be saluting the NFL's ultimate soldier -- Mike Anderson.
An hour before Sunday's 33-24 victory over the Raiders, Davis' sore left ankle gave out. Coach Mike Shanahan went over to the 26-year-old Anderson and told him he'd start. Anderson, who rushed for 131 yards last Sunday against Atlanta, bruised and battered the Raiders defense for 187 yards on 32 carries.
|  | | Denver's Mike Anderson runs into Raiders linebacker Greg Biekert in the second quarter Sunday. |
"When I look into Mike Anderson's eyes, I see a warrior, a soldier," receiver Rod Smith said. "That's what we call ourselves -- soldiers."
The Marines trained him to be a killing machine for his country. The Broncos trained him to be a bruising machine against opponents. He's 235 pounds, and simply stated, his game is taking a handoff, reading the hole and then lowering his shoulders into anybody in front of him. Pity those in his way.
"He can get under the defender's pads and hit him hard," Broncos tackle Tony Jones said. "He's a bruiser. Olandis Gary is also a bruiser. Terrell Davis is more of the cutback slasher. I'm sure the Raiders are a little sore tonight."
Sore in body. Sore in spirit. With Davis standing on the sideline in uniform wearing a baseball cap, Anderson had to carry the offense in what might have been their most important victory since their last Super Bowl run. Smith came over to Anderson with advice only a two-time Super Bowl receiver could offer.
"I told him that if you can play in a big game like this, you can play in the Super Bowl," Smith said. "This is playoff-type atmosphere. You're on the road. You're playing a division opponent. A win can affect where you finish at the end of the season."
Oblivious to pressure, Anderson does what he does best -- run downhill as they say in offensive line vernacular. He busted through the talented Raiders defense for gains of 20, 12 and 7 yards.
"He wasn't that tough," Raiders defensive tackle Grady Jackson said. "It was just missed tackles. That was basically it. We need to start wrapping up."
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Running wild
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Mike Anderson is the ninth rookie ever to start his career with two straight 100-yard games, rushing for 318 yards in the last two weeks. Only Alan Ameche of the Colts has had a better start to his career, gaining 347 yards in the first two games of his rookie season in 1955. Terrell Davis, the man Anderson replaced, needed six games in his rookie year of 1995 to amass as many yards as Anderson has in his first two games this season. Davis did not have a 100-yard rushing performance until the ninth game of 1995.
—Rico Longoria
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Anderson doesn't allow the defenders the time nor the luxury of "wrapping" up. All week, the Raiders prepared for Davis's cutbacks, so seeing the no-nonsense style of Anderson didn't challenge them mentally.
"Running downhill, anything inside the tackles is what I do," Anderson said. "I take about six or seven steps. I make my read upfield right away, make one move and go."
Because he stays low to the ground, he's hard for defenders to grab. The well-coordinated Broncos offensive line set the holes for him quickly. He reads them and boom.
"Mike is very patient as a running back," Davis said. "I think he's particularly good on those stretch plays where he goes to the outside. His reads are so good and so quick. After that, everything is downhill."
Downhill with momentum. Anderson had 45 rushing yards in the first eight minutes and, coupled with Raiders turnovers, allowed the Broncos to jump to a 17-0 lead. The Broncos started making turnovers and allowed the Raiders to come back and tie the score at 24-24. A Rich Gannon interception into the end zone to halt the opening drive of the second half was critical.
Anderson, who had 78 yards in the first half, had to block out the hostile Raiders crowd and take control of the game. Like Davis and Gary before him, he responded.
Anderson broke though the Raiders' front line where safety Anthony Dorsett was set to make the tackle. Anderson ran through Dorsett en route to a 23-yard gain. He kept pounding into the tiring Raiders defenders until the Broncos drove for the first of Joe Nedney's three second-half field goals to take the lead.
For the rest of the game, Anderson was unstoppable. He gained 109 yards on 16 carries in the second half. He became only the ninth back in NFL history to open his NFL career with back-to-back, 100-yard games. Even better, Anderson has been the league's top runner for two weeks, gaining 318 yards on 62 carries.
A reporter asked if he felt like an NFL star after the game.
"Not at all," the humble Marine said. "It's unbelievable to think what's happened in two weeks. I didn't find out I was going to start until an hour before the game. I never thought I was going to be thrown into this situation. I was nervous big time."
After Gary blew out a knee rushing for 80 yards against the Rams in the opener, Shanahan had to lean heavily on Davis, not knowing what to expect. Davis' best game ever against the Raiders was 162 yards. His career average against the division rivals is 3.7 yards per carry.
"Our line does such a great job but another part of it is how well Brian Griese is playing," Davis said. "Our offense is clicking right now. And I'm sure the Raiders underestimated Mike."
Barring a complication this week, Davis is expected to return to front-line duty. There was a scare, though, in the fourth quarter. Anderson felt his left knee buckle. Pain shot through the leg, and Shanahan's thoughts were "What next?"
He only had fullback Howard Griffith to use at halfback. Anderson shook off the injury and returned to the game to finish his 187-yard pounding of the Raiders.
"It's going to be hard to key on any of our guys in the backfield," Smith said. "We've had three great backs in two years. Mike's matured a lot over the last three weeks. I see a soldier."
It's only natural to him.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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