DENVER — Security was busy at Invesco Field on Saturday. It was full of celebrants who evidently celebrated the Broncos' biggest win in six years a bit too much.

"That (detention room) is jammed to filling," one of the yellow-jacketed personnel said with a sigh, rolling his eyes.

Well, why not? The Denver Broncos came away with everything their hearts could have possibly desired — the AFC West championship, the No.2 seed in the playoffs and a first-round bye, and the capper to an 8-0 mark at Mile High.

Oh, yes. Going with all that was a 22-3 thumping of the Oakland Raiders, who were invited to this coronation and behaved like perfect guests.

Not that they were happy about it.

"It sucks — we didn't win a division game this year," tackle Barry Sims said of Oakland's

0-6 record against the West. "That says a lot. It's something we're going to have to address."

That was the reaction from the disappointment of defeat. But there was more to this than just defeat. There was an apparent attempt at humiliation.

The next time Broncos coach Mike Shanahan insists he does not hate the Raiders, feel free to call him a liar.

Leading 22-0 early in the fourth quarter with the issue firmly beyond doubt, the Raiders lined up for a rare shot at scoring — a 43-yard field-goal try from Sebastian Janikowski. At that point, Shanahan decided he wanted not only to beat Oakland, but also to shut them out.

He

called a timeout to freeze Janikowski. It would have been the first time the Raiders had been shut out since Dec.7, 1997, and it would have been Denver's first shutout of Oakland by a Shanahan-coached team since the first year he faced them, six years after he had been canned by Al Davis.

Insulting?"Of course it is," center Adam Treu said. "I told Sebastian we were not getting shut out. Maybe he's trying to get a shutout, but he ain't getting one."

"It's expected," safety Stuart Schweigert said. "That's what Shanahan does. He hates us. He is not going to let us get anything, you know? And with the way we're struggling a little bit, that didn't surprise me whatsoever.

"Then they go and challenge an 8-yard (Jerry Porter) catch. In fact I thought when they put (backup quarterback Brad) Van Pelt in there at the end they may have wanted to give him a little confidence going into next season and have him throw up a shot and maybe get a touchdown. I was telling our corners to get deep because they could do some (expletive) like that. They didn't, but it could have happened."

Not everybody was convinced Shanahan was trying to rub it in and gloat a bit on a day when his team won its first division title since 1999.

"Y'know, this is the NFL, and those guys are competing," quarterback Kerry Collins said. "There is a lot at stake for them — points are one of them. And it was 22-0. It's not like it was

40-something to nothing."

"The horn hasn't blown yet," safety Jarrod Cooper said. "If there's still time to play I'd try to score, too. It doesn't matter. We're still in a football game, and in a football game you're trying to score points."

Asked if he considered it an insult, coach Norv Turner said "Aw ... you guys (can) worry about that."

As it was, Janikowski made the kick, the shutout was averted and it was at least one thing the Raiders got accomplished on this delightfully sunny, 52-degree day in Denver.

Actually there was more. For the first 71/2 minutes of the game, it did not look as if the Raiders would be dining on humble pie.

Denver won the coin clip, elected to receive and got three first downs in their first five plays on gains of 16, 15 and 21 yards.

But the Raiders stiffened when backed up at their 3, and the Broncos had to settle for the first of three Jason Elam field goals.

At 3-0, the Raiders still could go about their game plan, which was to take advantage of Zack Crockett's first start as their primary ballcarrier since his 134-yard performance in last year's season finale against Jacksonville.

Their first six plays were Crockett runs, and they gained 31 yards. It looked promising. Denver was going to have to be conscious of the run, back off on the pass rush and maybe insert somebody into the box.

On second-and-7, Collins threw his first pass, a little out to Doug Gabriel that gained only 4 yards. Sims was called for a false start on third-and-3, Collins' second pass was incomplete, the Raiders punted, and the next time they looked up, Denver had scored for a 10-0 lead.

In the NFL, 10-0 often looks like Mount Everest to coaches who are trailing. Crockett ran two more times for 2 yards the rest of the half, which ended with the Broncos up 16-0 on Mike Anderson's 2-yard touchdown. The extra point failed after a bad snap.

And so, there were the Raiders, down 16-0 but threatening at the end of the half at the Denver 4 with a second-and-2. A Collins completion of 24 to Randy Moss got them there.

What followed at the 4 was Collins' lone interception on the day — a horrible throw safety Nick Ferguson could hardly believe got to him.

The pass appeared to be intended for Moss or tight end Randal Williams. In reality it was supposed to go to fullback Zack Crockett.

"They brought a blitz and that made us 'hot,'" Collins said. "Zack was the primary receiver coming out of the backfield. He kind of got bounced around. I was really trying to throw it away. I didn't get enough on it ... so that one is on me."

It was costly. Had the Raiders scored, they would have received the second-half kickoff with a chance to score twice in a row before Denver ran an offensive play.

Instead, they went into halftime down 16-0, and when they took the second-half kickoff, Chris Carr fumbled at his 27, Denver recovered to set up Elam's 33-yard field goal for 19-0. He had another before the end of the third quarter from 34 yards.