Broncos 47, Raiders 14: Game balls

Broncos Defense

My game ball goes to the entire defense for smothering the life out of the Oakland Raiders offensive game plan early by forcing four straight three and outs to the start the game and six total punts before half time. That's the kind of defense that wins championships, so here's to seeing more of that over the next four weeks! - Tim Lynch

C.J. Anderson

With as up and down as our passing game has been as of late, our playoff hopes rest on the shoulders of C.J. Anderson. He showed Broncos Country again this week that our running game is in great hands. Every team we play in the post season will need to account for our running game. C.J. averaged 6.7 yards per carry and rushed for 3 TDs in a complete blow out against the Oakland Raiders. That's a monster game even against a team in disarray. - Sadaraine

Demaryius Thomas

Demaryius Thomas had a big week; he turned 27 on Christmas day, broke the Broncos franchise record for the most receiving yards in a single season, and became one of seven players in the history of professional football to have 10 or more 100-yard receiving games. On Sunday DT caught eight passes for 115 yards against the Raiders, averaging an impressive 14.4 yards per reception. He finished the year two receptions shy of Rod Smith's record 113 receptions in a single season.  For the occasion (and the convenience of being in Denver) I bought myself a #88 jersey. John Elway, please pay this man. - Kelly Fleming

Virgil Green

The guy just does his job,  blocking like a beast, every game and rarely gets targets in the passing game. He finally got some love on our last drive of the regular season, catching a poor throw from Oz to convert a 3rd down, then grabbing a TD throw on 3rd and goal. Manning had been trying to get Green a TD all year and you could see by his reaction how happy he was when Green finally got his even if he wasn't the one throwing him the ball. - Joseph Mahoney

Omar Bolden

Very little has been special about our special teams this year, but in the last two games Omar Bolden has broken free for huge kick-off returns that have not only raised the caliber of the unit somewhat, but have also jumpstarted the offense at key times. While yesterday's 76-yard return to begin the third-quarter was not nearly as necessary as Bolden's 77-yard return to start the second half last week since the Broncos were up 20-7 over the Raiders rather than down 20-7 as they were against Cincinnati, it's still a very impressive effort that helps get the team energized for the second half of the game. And that should never be underestimated. - Laurie Lattimore-Volkmann

Omar Bolden NEARLY returns the 2nd half kickoff to the house! #Broncos will start in great field position to start Q3.

— MileHighReport (@MileHighReport) December 28, 2014

Offensive Line

Will Montgomery was particularly impressive; the Broncos' center had his best game to date, earning PFF All-Star honors for Week 17 as he played a perfect game in pass protection (while also proving to be a decent run grader). Despite early struggles handling Justin Tuck, the Broncos offensive line turned in "green" grades from PFF across the board (edit: except for Manny Ramirez. Still pretty darn good though).  - Kyle "the other" Montgomery

Honorable mentions

QB Peyton Manning didn't throw a touchdown, but he didn't throw an interception either. He acted as game manager and let Anderson get all the touchdowns, but anytime a quarterback leads a team to a 33-point victory, he deserves Game Ball consideration.

QB Brock Osweiler gets a game ball for his first career TD.

Finally, coach John Fox gets an honorary mention game ball for completing a sweep of the AFC West and a perfect home season in 2014.

Who gets your game ball? Let us know in the comments.