Offense spotty after early signs of life
Manuel’s game-winning drive caps effort
RAIDERS 13, PACKERS 6
If Friday night marked Derek Carr’s final tune-up before the regular season, it was a remarkably short one.
The quarterback played one drive in the Raiders’ 13-6 win over the Packers at the Coliseum, completing two of three passes for 68 yards, before watching the rest of his team’s third preseason game.
“I’d seen enough. There’s not much more to see,” head coach Jon Gruden said. “The battle for us is who’s behind Derek. We’ve got a pretty good idea who our starters are on offense. And I was really pleased with Derek, how he started the game.”
Carr’s cameo, though, still managed to encompass a goodand-bad night for the Oakland offense.
Carr’s first attempt was an arcing pass down the middle of the field to Amari Cooper, who leaped and caught it for a 49yard gain. It was the pair’s first connection this preseason, and three plays later Carr connected with tight end Jared Cook for a 19-yard gain to the Packers’ 4-yard line.
The drive stalled there. Running back Doug Martin was stopped for no gain on back-toback carries. And on third down, new right tackle Donald Penn was pushed backward
into Carr, who fumbled and fell on the ball for a loss of 10 yards.
That was potentially concerning. Penn, making his preseason debut at right tackle, didn’t look entirely comfortable there in the course of three drives. A three-time Pro Bowl left tackle, Penn was asked to move to the right side after returning from foot surgery earlier this month, with firstround pick Kolton Miller working at left tackle.
On the sack of Carr, Penn was bull-rushed by Green Bay linebacker Reggie Gilbert and offered little resistance as he backed up. Quarterback Connor Cook also found himself under pressure multiple times after replacing Carr with the first-team offensive line still in the game.
Penn, who underwent foot surgery last December, said the first day he returned to practice Aug. 14 that some movements at right tackle felt “awkward and rusty.” His previous experience at right tackle was 24 snaps in 2016, and Penn had fewer than 10 practices going into Friday night’s game to get accustomed to the position.
Protecting Carr is of utmost importance to the Raiders this season — a fact reinforced Friday night by the performance of his backups.
Connor Cook played the rest of the first half after Carr exited and struggled, completing 6 of 15 passes for 72 yards. He threw an interception on a play where receiver Dwayne Harris appeared to be getting open down the middle of the field. Cook’s pass was underthrown and was picked off by cornerback Jaire Alexander.
Cook later threw a pass near the sideline that was intercepted and returned for a touchdown, but the turnover was nullified by a defensive holding call on Green Bay on the other side of the field. Cook had arguably his best success running the ball, scrambling twice for 19 yards.
EJ Manuel took over in the second half and had a shaky start that included his third lost fumble in three preseason games. However, Manuel did lead the eventual game-winning drive, a 68-yard march in the fourth quarter that culminated in a 1-yard touchdown run by Chris Warren III. Manuel completed 3 of 4 passes on the drive for 23 yards and finished 8-of-12 passing for 87 yards.
Cook and Manuel are still competing to be Carr’s backup this season. They should have one more opportunity to make their case in the preseason finale against Seattle. Assuming Carr doesn’t play in that game, he would finish the preseason 4-for-7 passing for 79 yards.
Martin got his most extensive work of the preseason, with six carries for 24 yards. Warren kept making his case for a 53man roster spot, carrying 15 times for 54 yards.
The Raiders’ fortified pass rush, meanwhile, was impressive working mostly against Green Bay’s reserve offensive lines. Defensive end Fadol Brown recorded a strip-sack, three quarterback hits and was in on a first-half sack with rookie Maurice Hurst that also featured rookie Arden Key.