Raiders Finish the Preseason with a Loss to the Seahawks
The Oakland Raiders traveled to Seattle to conclude their 2012 preseason against the ‘Hawks on Thursday night. Normally, the fourth preseason game is when the starters take the least amount of playing time, as the coaching staff will try to keep them as fresh as possible heading into the regular season debut. But with the final roster cut due to tomorrow night, this is a crucial game to players who are looking to secure a place in the 53 men list that will represent the Silver & Black in 2012.
Raider players who did not suit up for the game: WRs Jacoby Ford (ankle) and Denarius Moore (hamstring), C Stefen Wisniewski (calf), DT Richard Seymour (knees), LB Aaron Curry (knee) and K Sebastian Janikowski (groin).
The game began with the Raiders offense starting on their 20 yard line, featuring the first team offense minus Darren McFadden (Taiwan Jones started in his place). After 2 stuffed runs, Jones bursted up the middle for a 15 yard gain. And after 2 stuffed runs by Goodson, Jones draw run went backwards and the Raiders were forced to punt, bringing in the Raiders first team defense minus Tommy Kelly. After a few good gains, the Seahawks faced a 3rd & 6 from the Raiders 35 yard line. QB CJ Wilson connected with WR Golden Tate but he went down out of bounds. Kicker Steve Hauschka missed the 53 yard field goal, bringing in Matt Leinart along with the other offensive backups.
Leinart faced a 3rd & 6 at the Seahawks 40 yard line and was able to find Brandon Carswell for a 15 yard gain, but the rookie bobbled the ball and couldn’t put two feet in bounds while having possession. Shane Lechler stepped onto the field and put Seattle’s offense at their 10 yard line, to now face the Raiders second string defense, who forced a 3 & out after 2 stuffed runs and a forced incomplete pass by a Matt Giordano hit. But on the punt return, Roscoe Parrish, in his very first as a Raider, fumbled the ball and gave the Seahawks offense another opportunity at the Raiders 38 yard line. QB Russell Wilson found TE Anthony McCoy to get into the redzone. Another completion for a first down put them on a 1st & goal situation. A stuffed run by Jack Crawford and a dropped pass later, Demarcus Van Dyke read the play quickly and broke the pass down. Hauschka split the uprights with 1:05 to go in the first quarter. Raiders 0 x 3 Seahawks.
After 2 short runs by Jones, Travionte Session, on a 3rd & 9, dropped the ball in a screen call that had no chance of success. Former packer QB Matt Flynn took the reins of the Seahawks offense but went 3&out after a great tipped pass by Pat Lee. Roscoe Parrish called for a fair catch but muffed the punt. Luckily for him, the ball was recovered out of bounds to avoid a second turnover on his second return attempt. Matt Leinart once again saw himself in an early 3rd down situation and was intercepted after Carswell got a hand on the ball which was thrown a little bit too high. Starting at the Raiders 39 yard line, Flynn quickly got his offense inside the redzone with a completion over Miles Burris’ streched hands. On a 3rd&12, Burris stopped the completion short of the first down, leading to another FG. Raiders 0 x 6 Seahawks.
On the following kick return, another fumble, this time by Coye Francies, but recovered by the Raiders. The two recently signed players are having a hard time taking care of the ball. Mike Goodson reversed a toss run and was able to create a 17 yard gain. But again on a 3rd down (for 11 yards), Leinart’s pass to Richard Gordon went incomplete. The Seahawks didn’t have any problems moving the ball, specially via running plays, only facing a 3rd down at the Raiders 30 yard line, which was converted through the air despite a solid tackle by Francies. On a 1st&goal, RB Vai Taua capped off his stellar drive with a TD. Raiders 0 x 13 Seahawks with 1:11 to go in the first half. The raider offense went 3&out and gave the ball back to Seattle 20 seconds and 80 yards to go, which led to the halftime after a run.
The raider defense came better to the second half, forcing a 3rd & 9, which went for a incomplete pass after solid overall coverage. That brought Terrelle Pryor to the field, but he quickly had to go back to the sidelines after a 3&out. The Seahawks had to start at their own 10 yard line after great coverage on the punt return, but got bailed out by Mike Mitchell who hit TE Sean McGrath before the ball got to him, being called for 27-yard pass interference. After that, Seattle was able to move the ball with consistency and on a 2nd & goal, Flynn found TE Cooper Helfet open left for another TD. After the extra point block by Dominique Hamilton, it’s Raiders 0 x 19 Seahawks with 4:29 left in the 3rd quarter.
Pryor was sacked on 1st down, ran for a short gain on 2nd after heavy rush and found Eddie McGee deep middle after evading another would-be sack for a 25 yard gain. But with the OL not being able to provide him any kind of time, Pryor was forced to make another scramble which went short of the first down, leading to Shane Lechler’s 7th punt of the game. The Seahawks offense, now lead by QB Josh Wilson, continued to move the chains with ease. Their first 3rd down came on the Raiders 29 yard line and it ended up with a Nathan Stupar sack after good pressure up the middle from Hamilton and Christo Bilukidi. Jon Ryan’s punt put the Raiders at their 8 yard line with 9:49 to go in the 4th quarter.
After another sack and a false start by Kevin Haslam, the Raiders faced a 3rd&16 from the 1 yard line and it went for a safety as Mike Goodson had no chance of coming out of the endzone, after Colin Miller got steamrolled. Raiders 0 x 21 Seahawks. The raider defense forced a 3&out with a Stupar stuffed run, but a “running into the kicker” call on Chad Kilgore on the punt kept the offense off the field. But 3 plays later, Seattle once again faced a 4th down after another stuffed run, but decided to go for it. The result was a turnover on downs after an incomplete pass deep middle on tight coverage by Bryan McCann. Raider football at their 42 yard line with 4:36 left. On 3rd&10, Lonyae’s Miller draw run goes for no gain and the Raiders punt after another 3&out. At least it’s another good one by Lechler, downed at the 8 yard line.
On Seattle’s first play of the drive, Nathan Stupar once again shows up and tackles the RB for a loss. 2 incomplete passes and a punt later, the Raiders get the ball with 2:10 and 37 yards to go, after a nice return by McCann. Pryor once again evades a sack and finds Lonyae Miller for a first down (17 yard gain). On a 3rd&10 at the 20 yard line, Carrier makes a 7 yard catch. On 4th down, kicker Eddie Carmona makes the 31 yard FG with 15 seconds left. A QB knee later, it’s game over. Final score: Raiders 3 x 21 Seahawks.
Terrelle Pryor finished the game with 55 yards on 6 completions (66.7 completion percentage). Mike Goodson led the RBs with 26 rushing yards (3.3 YPC). Eddie McGee led the receivers with 3 catches for 36 yards. Nate Stupar led all defensive players with 10 total tackles and 1 sack.
Next for the Oakland Raiders is the 2012 regular season debut against the San Diego Chargers at home, on September 10th at 7:15 PM (PDT).
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