Quarterback a question mark for Raiders in playoffs

DENVER - The primary question surrounding the Raiders' quarterback situation was answered Sunday in a 24-6 loss to the Broncos: No, this team cannot adequately replace Derek Carr, who fractured his fibula against the Colts in Week 16.

Now another question looms: Who will start against the Houston Texans in an AFC wild card game on Saturday?

Matt McGloin has spent the entire season as Carr's understudy, but he injured his non-throwing shoulder on a hit by Denver's Jared Crick, and he played poorly before that. Rookie Connor Cook had some promising moments in relief, but fumbled twice and threw an interception. One of them will start at Houston.

Oakland coach Jack Del Rio hedged on naming his first-teamer after the game, saying he did not yet know the severity of McGloin's injury.

“We'll see how healthy he is and we'll make a decision from there,” Del Rio said. “Obviously, he's got a little more experience in our system. But I thought Connor did a nice job in the opportunities he had.”

Both quarterbacks said their preparation will not be affected by whether they're starting or backing up. McGloin assumes he'll be healthy enough to throw.

“That's my mindset right now,” he said. “I want to play. I wanted to play out there tonight, it's just what's best for the team. If I'm not a hundred percent healthy that's not what this team needs.”

Cook admitted that his first NFL action came at him fast, and that he was running some plays he had never executed before.

“The last game action I had was preseason against the Seattle Seahawks, and that was in the third or fourth quarter,” Cook said. “(The Broncos) were coming after me, it was obviously a very fast defense. Messed up a couple times with hot throws, guys coming free with the whole protection issue. Things that can be easily corrected with a week of preparation and a week of studying.”

NFL Network's Rich Eisen tweeted that if Cook should get the call Saturday, he would be the first quarterback in the Super Bowl era to get his first career start in the postseason.

THE CHAIN GANG

With five catches for 47 yards, Michael Crabtree went over 1,000 receiving yards for the season. In so doing, he teams with Amari Cooper to give the Raiders their first pair of 1,000-yard receivers since 2001, when Pro Football Hall of Famers Tim Brown and Jerry Rice accomplished the feat.

Before his milestone, though, Crabtree was the victim of a misdemeanor. Oakland's first possession ended with an incomplete throw from McGloin to Crabtree down the right sideline. After the play, garrulous Denver cornerback Aqib Talib tugged at the gold chain the receiver has been wearing all season and broke it.

“He just been wearing that chain all year, man, and it's just been growing on me,” Talib explained later. “I said if he wear that chain in front of me, I'm a snatch it off. So he wore it in front of me, so I had to snatch it off.”

Crabtree, as you might imagine, was not amused.

“You snatching chains on the field, like what does that accomplish?” he said. “You hard? You tough? That make you tough? You snatched a chain in front of the police and take off running? Childish, man.”

A reporter told Crabtree he looked stunned when it happened.

“I looked like I wanted to hit him,” he answered.

THE MOMENT WE DREAD

Play was stopped for several minutes in the third quarter when the Broncos' Zaire Anderson, a first-year linebacker, went limp after attempting to make a tackle in punt coverage. Anderson had lowered the crown of his helmet as he made the hit.

He was loaded onto a flat board and taken from Sports Authority Field to a local hospital.

“All indications of the tests are normal,” Broncos coach Gary Kubiak reported after the game. “He did talk to me on the field. He was moving his extremities and stuff.”

SECONDARY CONCERNS

Rookie strong safety Karl Joseph missed his fourth consecutive start for the Raiders with a toe injury. Once again, veteran Nate Allen stepped into the starting role in Joseph's place. But Allen suffered a concussion late in the first quarter and left the game.

In stepped Keith McGill, and it didn't go well. On the very next play, Denver running back Devontae Booker ran over McGill. So the Raiders made another switch, and relieved McGill in favor of Brynden Trawick, who got his first action of the season as a position player. He intercepted a pass by Trevor Siemian late in the third quarter.