Raiders scoreless in preseason opener but first teams show promise

After a long offseason of completely revamping the Raiders organization, the new era of the Raiders began today. New general manager Reggie McKenzie lit the Al Davis torch and the first game action for the 2012 Raiders kicked off.

The Raiders won the toss and elected to receive so they would begin the game on offense. Jacoby Ford took the opening kickoff and had nowhere to go. It was a precursor for his day as well as the rest of the Raiders team.

Things got off to a fast start for the Raiders offense with Darren McFadden picking up 38 yards on three plays-a 4-yard run, 18-yard reception, and 16-yard run. It was a nice little preview of the kind of blocking we can expect from the offensive line and the kind of game breaking speed we can continue to expect from McFadden. But the party ended there for the offense.

On the next play, Carson Palmer saw what he thought was going to be Jacoby Ford breaking away for a long score. It ended up being an interception when safety Gerald Sensabaugh came over and made a nice play on the ball. The pass was also too long for Ford who may have come up with it even with the safety there had he been able to catch up to it. Sensabaugh returned the interception to the 37 and the Cowboys offense took over there.

"We had some momentum going on that first drive and just wanted to get a show downfield." Said Palmer. "Part of that's what the preseason's for, to see when you have those opportunities to take them. Obviously now I'd take it back. The safety ended up making a great play on it. We'll continue to work and continue to figure out what's best for our guys individually and when to take those shots, just continue to work."

After that botched first drive, the Raiders' defensive line really showed up. They harassed Tony Romo , sacked him once, and stuffed the Cowboys running attack throughout the first quarter. They finished that first quarter with just three yards rushing with two completions by Romo for a total of 22 yards.

"I think there's obviously some positives in the game." Said Allen. "I thought our first-team defense played exceptionally well. I was very pleased with the way that Darren McFadden played there in the first quarter. So there's some positives about it. We got a lot of young guys a lot of reps. But at the end of the day, the execution's not where it needs to be, and we've gotta be better."

The Cowboys had difficulty against the Raiders defense most of the game. The first team to have a shot at scoring was the Raiders who used several nice connections between Matt Leinart and Rod Streater to get in field goal range. But the Jon Condo snap was a bit high and holder, Marquette King, couldn't handle it. The Raiders got a lucky break on a penalty and were given another shot at a field goal. But the hold wasn't right and Sebastian Janikowski's kick knuckled low and wide and they were held scoreless.

The Cowboys were the first team to score after they had a long drive in the third quarter and kicked the game's only field goal.

Terrelle Pryor played the remainder of the game and after two rocky, stalled possessions, he managed to get the Raiders in field goal range. This time Eddy Carmona came into the game to try and tie it up. But his kick missed wide right and thus ended the last real hope for the Raiders to score.

The game ended on four ugly plays. The offensive line gave up pressure to force a wide incompletion from Pryor, then they gave up a sack on Pryor followed by a low throw that was nearly intercepted, and then the game essentially ended with a floating pass right to the Cowboys secondary for an interception.

It was only the second home preseason shutout of the Raiders in their history. The good sized crowd excited to see the revamped team left disappointed after some pretty bad football.

The only injury was to Stefen Wisniewski who left early with a calf injury. Richard Gordon left early with an illness.

Box Score