Raider analysis: Who helped, hurt themselves in exhibition opener?
By Jerry McDonald
jmcdonald@bayareanewsgroup.com
POSTED: 08/15/2015 12:06:28 AM PDT# COMMENTS| UPDATED: ABOUT 10 HOURS AGO
OAKLAND -- One play into the Raiders' exhibition opener Friday night, they were already better than the year before.
It's a point which will fall upon deaf ears to Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, who has vowed to put the failings of the franchise for the last dozen years into a deep freeze, never to be mentioned.
Yet to a fan base starved for success, an 18-3 win over the St. Louis Rams at O.co Coliseum stood in stark contrast to 2014's desultory 10-6 road loss to the Minnesota Vikings.
That game began with a false-start penalty on the first snap of the game, and disintegrated from there in terms of fundamentally sound play. The Raiders finished with 13 penalties for 94 yards, looking listless and confused overall.
It got so bad that from the Raiders box at the University of Minnesota, which was next to the press box and had no sound proofing, the voice of owner Mark Davis could be clearly heard, at one point calling the performance `"embarrassing.''
That game likely had little or no bearing on the 3-13 season that followed, just as beating the Rams isn't any reason to begin wondering what it's like to actually play football past the 17th week of the season.
But there were only two penalties for 22 yards, an offensive pass interference call on rookie tight end Clive Walford and a 12-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on a punt return.
There were no dropped passes, no false starts or offsides penalties, no delay of game calls. Quarterbacks got smoothly in and out of the huddle. It was far from perfect. Del Rio conceded the nitpicking would leave coaches "agonized'' as they identified errors Saturday not apparent to the naked eye.
Starting quarterback Derek Carr managed just a field goal in two possessions, with one drive ending with an forced incompletion to Michael Crabtree and another with an end zone interception to Trumaine Johnson intended for Amari Cooper.
But in the end, Del Rio's assessment of a "clean'' game was the best way to describe it. Even in preseason, when was the last time anyone used that word to describe the Raiders?
HELPED THEMSELVES
RB Latavius Murray ran for 35 yards on six carries before taking the night off and health permitting, will be the Week 1 lead back.
LB Ben Heeney led the Raiders in tackles with eight and showed up all over the field. In 1996, Miami Dolphins coach Jimmy Johnson cut Del Rio because he simply had to play a rookie named Zach Thomas.
There's no reason for starter Curtis Lofton to have such concerns, but Heeney could be ready for playing time sooner than anybody expected.
DE Shelby Harris had a 14-yard sack of starter Nick Foles and showed up as a rusher on other plays as well.
QBs Christian Ponder and Matt McGloin were better in the preseason game than at any time during training camp practice, Ponder in particular. Both men directed touchdown drives and Ponder's interception on the last play of the first half was inconsequential.
WR Brice Butler had six receptions for 57 yards and a 16-yard touchdown reception, but in reality the entire unit, including Kris Durham, Seth Roberts and Andre Holmes, was sure-handed without so much as a bobble. Include tight Walford in that group.
BEARS WATCHING
CB DJ Hayden gave up a 26-yard completion on the first play of the game to Lance Kendricks and wound up running down Tavon Austin on second down. Things quieted down after that, and he was complimented by Del Rio for his play.
Carr averaged just 4.7 yards per pass attempt, the Raiders had 215 passing yards on 23 completions overall and seldom looked too far downfield. Way too early to make a judgment on that given the focus on keeping things simple.
Using the first game as a guide, the Raiders will run a lot of spread formation plays this year and they'll run from it just as often as they pass. The Raiders finished with 30 rushing plays and 30 passing plays.
RB Trent Richardson had 18 yards on 5 carries, but did flash some quickness on back to back carries of 6 and 5 yards for a first down in the second quarter.
HURT THEMSELVES
RB George Atkinson III had 6 yards on 6 carries and had the only dropped pass of the game on a screen that could have gone for big yardage.
PR Trindon Holliday fumbled the opening kickoff, which he downed in the end zone. He also had a 22-yard punt return, but what the Raiders will want above all else is ball security, and Holliday has had some bobbles during camp as well.``
Statistics: Posted by TDraiders — Sat Aug 15, 2015 8:02 am