Raiders defeat Cardinals in Arizona
3 takeaways from Oakland’s decisive preseason win
The Raiders showed a little bit of everything they hope to be Thursday night in a 33-26 road win over the Arizona Cardinals.
Keep it mind it was against an opponent which in no way resembled a Los Angeles Rams team the Raiders practiced and played against a week ago. The Raiders were up 26-0 in the second quarter and the outcome was never in doubt, with the Cardinals getting two touchdowns in the last 2:49 to make it cosmetically close.
Three takeaways as the Raiders (2-0) reached the midway point of the exhibition season:
1. Cover better, blitz a lot: With better speed on the back end, defensive Paul Guenther can dial up a pressure or two without being fearful of having someone running free in the secondary.
The Raiders came hard after Arizona rookie quarterback Kyler Murray (3 of 8, 12 yards), the No.1 overall pick in the draft.
Johnathan Abrams came early on a safety blitz. Vontaze Burfict and Tahir Whitehead both blitzed over the middle. Lamarcus Joyner rushed from the slot and recorded a safety against Murray, who by midseason may be wondering what life would be like as a Double-a outfielder for the Athletics.
Using Guenther’s game plan as a blueprint, go ahead and assume Murray will be blitzed frequently.
There was also some good work done by Arden Key and Clelin Ferrell, when the latter wasn’t getting called for illegal hands to the face, which happened twice early in the game.
The Raiders finished with three sacks, including one in the fourth quarter by Ethan Westbrooks. That equaled their entire 2018 regular-season total of fourthquarter sacks. 2. Derek Carr’s perfect cameo: Coach Jon Gruden opted to start Derek Carr at quarterback , and didn’t need to see anything else after one possession. The Raiders drove 75 yards in six plays, with Carr hitting Tyrell Williams on a 27-yard jump and catch and an uncovered Ryan Grant for a 13-yard touchdown.
Carr’s passer rating? A perfect 158.3. Carr may play a series or two against Green Bay in Winnipeg. He may not. He’ll most certainly sit out the exhibition finale in Seattle.
In the meantime, Carr’s job will be to play catch-up with wide receiver Antonio Brown and be ready on Monday night, Sept. 9 at the Coliseum against the Denver Broncos.
3. Ditto Josh Jacobs: The first-round draft pick out of Alabama carried four times for 21 yards with a long gain of eight. Jacobs didn’t face the Rams, and it’s impossible to tell in training camp how good a running back is with no tackling to the ground.
Jacobs’ first three carries were for 6, 8 and 6 yards He showed subtle inside moves and a good surge of power and like Carr, sat out the rest of the first half and perhaps the rest of the exhibition season.