Bright spots to ponder from Raiders’ first preseason game

By Jon McClanahan aka Raider Jon  |   Friday, August 14, 2009  |  Comments( 16 )

Oakland Raiders
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The first game of the Raider's preseason is in the books with a final score of 31-10. Going into the game, the Raiders had a laundry list of questions that they needed to start answering, but none more important than "How had the Raiders improved their run defense under Marshall?"

That question seemed to be answered quickly as Dallas took the ball first and were 3 and out after 2 incomplete passes and a -1 yard loss by Marion Barber when Nmandi Asomugha took him down.

The Raiders first offensive possession saw Russell come out firing - hitting Chaz Schilens for an 11 yard pass with his first attempt. A 47 yard pass interference call against Dallas set the Raiders up in Dallas territory, but an offensive holding stalled the drive and Janikowski came on to put the Raiders on the board first with a 23-yard field goal.

After their poor showing on their first possession, the Cowboys offense came out firing on all cylinders on their next possession. Dallas moved the ball easily against the Raider defense and showed no signs of having any issue rushing. The biggest play of the series was a 13 yard reverse by Patrick Crayton. A defensive holding gave Dallas a 1st and Goal from the 1, but an offensive holding on Marion Barber's 1-yard plunge took the Cowboys back to the 11. Not to be stopped, Romo found his Tight End Jason Whitten for an 8 yard Touchdown pass to take the lead 7-3.

When the Raider's offense stepped back out on the field, the first play was reminiscent of the Raiders of the last few years as Russell was sacked for an 11 yard loss. However, things quickly turned right as McFadden on 2nd and 21 ripped off a 13 yard run followed by a 16 yard pass to Schilens to give the Raiders a 1st and 10. Russell then scrambled for an 18 yard gain, but after an offsides penalty the Raiders drive stalled and Lechler punted to the Dallas 5 yard line.

After another 3 and out by Dallas, McFadden came out and exploded for a 45 yard run to close the 1st Quarter. The momentum quickly turned and Bruce Gradkowski in at quarterback found TE Tony Stewart for an 3 yard touchdown pass given the Raiders the lead 10-7.

As it has always been with QB Jon Kitna, you're never sure what kind of play you're going to get. After completing a 21 yard pass to S.Hurd, Kitna fumbled the snap, and following an encroachment penalty on the Raiders, Kitna's next pass was intercepted by Free Safety Michael Huff. Yes, you read it right ... Michael Huff ... interception ... all in the same sentence.

After another Oakland drive was stalled by an offensive penalty (holding), Kitna came back out firing to Hurd - completing passes for 12, 30, and 12 yards. Kitna had found his go-to guy in Hurd, and after a pass interference call against Huff gave the Cowboys 1st and goal at the 1 yard line, it seemed the Cowboys would take back the lead ... but then again, it is Jon Kitna. After a 1-yard loss rush by Choice, Kitna fumbled the snap again - this time it resulted in a 16 yard loss and on 4th down, Nick Folk's FG attempt from 36 yards out was no good.

The half ended and the Raiders never looked back.

Louis Rankin came in the 3rd Quarter and promptly ran over the Cowboy's defense as Gradkowski executed a scoring drive that ended with Rankin running in from 3 yards out putting the Raiders up 17-7.

Dallas answered on their next possession with a field goal and that would be the last points that the Cowboys would score, as the Raiders put up 2 more touchdowns.

Bright spots of the game:

Darren McFadden is for real!! After a nagging toe injury kept him from showing his full potential last season, McFadden came out and ran for 63 yards on 5 carries and had a reception (out of the backfield) for 9 yards.

Chaz Schilens is going to be the #1 WR.

Not counting the yards rushed by Lattimore against the Raider's 3rd string defense, the Cowboys only gained 73 yards on 18 carries. Though the defense still allowed some big gains at times, they came up and made big plays when needed (1st and goal on the 1 yard line stopped) - and this is just the start of the season. May not be the No. 1 defense, but there is signs of improvement.

Louis Rankin looked really good running. How will he fit into the grand scheme of things when it comes time to cut?

Louis Murphy had some great grabs - even though most of Gradkowski's passes were horribly thrown.

ZERO TURNOVERS

Things to Improve:

The Offensive Line caused so many drives to stall and plays to be called back. Michael Bush would have had 17 more yards but penalties negated them.

Stanford Routt - blew coverage and allowed the Witten TD... gotta work that out.
Darrius Heyward-Bey had several passes thrown his direction, but the was only able to haul one pass in for 8 yards. With his speed, and the number of looks he was given, you just want more. There was one play in particular where he raced down the left and even though the defensive back hit the ball, if he had had his eyes on the ball he could have easily hauled the pass in and easily scored.

Overall, it was a great Raider's victory and if this is a sign of things to come, it will be a great year to be a Raider Fan!!
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CommentsComments: 16  |  Sign Up  View all comments
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No.1
neil b		10:28 AM
08/14/2009
Yes,it's only one game and yes,it's pre-season but it's good to see some football.Due to being stupid I thought the game was...
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No.2
svduran1		10:57 AM
08/14/2009
Every year is a Great Year to be a Raider Fan, just some are better than others! Look at it this way, what kind of life would...
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No.3
Raider Jon		11:03 AM
08/14/2009
Yes svduran1 ... It's always great to be a Raider fan - the greatest fanbase in the world, but it's more fun to walk out of the...
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