The third preseason game is suppose to tell you the most about where your team stands. If that is the case this season is going to be really, really bad. The first team squad vs New Orleans last week was bad but today they have been even worse.
Last week was the offensive line specifically at fault mostly, but this week its been pretty much everyone doing badly. Matt Flynn was oblivious to the rush, the playcalling looked far too Knapp-like, and Matt Forte was unstoppable. The Raiders showed plenty of reasons why they will be busy once teams start having to cut players on August 27th to get down to 75 players.
The best play for the Raiders first half was Jacoby Ford showing his talents as a return man with a 62 yard kickoff return. Unfortunately the Raiders inept offense didn't even manage to convert a field goal off the excellent field position. The worst play is hard to choose with so many worthy nominees but either one of Matt Flynn's interceptions are good places to start.
D.J. Hayden's opening day had some good and some bad. He made a great pass breakup early on but he also was victimized a couple of times on bad coverage and he was often bullied on run plays. Its his first game action since almost dying on the field though so its understandable for him to be rusty and he definitely showed some flashes of potential.
Flynn's half time statline of 3 of 6 for 19 yards with 2 interceptions reads like a Stephen King book, scary! He did so badly that he was benched in favor of Terrelle Pryor. TP didn't do much his first drive but did look good once again running the end of half drill. He had a run of 13 yards, 2 completed passes for 32 yards and one catchable pass dropped by Jacoby Ford on the final drive that led to a 58 yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski. Terrelle finished the half 2 of 4 for 32 yards passing and 2 rush attempts for 8 yards.
The Raiders had no run game whatsoever and their defense was very much below par too. Pretty horrible football all around, hopefully they play better in the 2nd half. With a 27-3 defecit at half time there shouldn't really be anywhere to go but up. Former Raider RB Michael Bush has two TD's in this game, that is about the closest that the Raiders have to a player that played well. It will be very interesting to see if Matt Flynn starts off the 2nd half or if he will be done for the day in favor of Terrelle Pryor.
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