Welcome to the 3rd preseason game of the season, the one that is usually the most exciting with the teams starters playing the most minutes of the preseason. That’s the case for the Raiders anyway, with the Packers sitting several big starters including QB Aaron Rodgers and their entire starting offensive line. Oh well though, we are a Raiders blog after all and we get to see our favorite players anyway!
The Raiders started out with the ball and immediately went deep to Amari Cooper for a whopping 49 yard gain, aided by the Packers not challenging when Amari was clearly down several yards earlier when he made the catch. They followed that up with a big 3rd down conversion to Jared Cook for a 19 yard gain down to the Green Bay 4 yard line. They were not able to punch in from there with Doug Martin and Carr fumbled but recovered it himself for the 3rd down play so the Raiders settled for the 32 yard field goal from Mike Nugent to make the score 3-0 Oakland.
The Packers have a QB battle going down for the back up position between Brett Hundley and DeShone Kizer, and it was Hundley that got the start in place of Rodgers tonight. He started out the Packers first drive going 4 for 4 before the drive finally stalled out at the 19. Green Bay was going to go for it on 4th and 3 but a false start made them reconsider. They brought veteran kicker Mason Crosby out who nailed the 42 yard field goal to tie the game at 3.
Oakland had a big return from Dwayne Harris negated by penalty so they started out the drive at their own 12 yard line. They also already sat Derek Carr after just the one drive, so Connor Cook took over at QB. He managed to lead the drive into Packers territory but they couldn’t get further than the Green Bay 40. Rookie punter Johnny Townsend’s punt bounced into the end zone for a touchback.
The next drive for the Packers failed to get a first down so the Raiders got the ball back right away. We finally got to see why Doug Martin has had such hype about him in the off-season with a couple of nice runs, but it didn’t lead to any points. That’s because Connor Cook threw an interception to Packers 1st round selection Jaire Alexander to end the drive.
The silver (and black) lining was that the Packers started their drive at their own 7 yard line after the interception from Alexander. Green Bay did manage to get one first down, but that was all. Their drive was ended by an impressive defensive play on 3rd down that had Maurice Hurst, Arden Key and Fadol Brown all converge on Brett Hundley for the sack.
The Raiders unfortunately did not take advantage of starting their drive at their own 40 after the sack though because Paul Butler dropped the easy 1st down reception. Green Bay punted the ball back quickly with their drive, and the Raiders managed to get into field goal position the next time they had the ball.
Unfortunately, K Mike Nugent missed the 49 yard field. The two teams failed to put any points on the board after that for the rest of the 1st half, though the Packers did have a pick 6 from 2nd round pick Josh Jackson negated by a defensive holding and the Raiders had a nice strip sack from Fadol Brown though the Packers recovered the ball on the play anyway.
Oakland got the ball first to start the game, so they kicked off to the Packers to start the 2nd half. They should have forced a 3 and out from Green Bay, and almost got a safety, but Mario Edwards, Jr grabbed DeShone Kizer facemask on a 3rd and 12 play. Shilique Calhoun’s sack on 2nd down came without any penalties though and led to the Packers punting shortly thereafter.
E.J. Manuel was the QB to lead the first drive after halftime for the Raiders, but it was doomed by a high snap on 3rd down which led to the Packers sacking Manuel to force a punt. Oakland returned the favor with Nicholas Morrow sacking DeShone Kizer on the Packers 3rd down play of their next drive.
Unfortunately the Raiders quickly gave the ball back after a scrambling E.J. Manuel fumbled the ball which Green Bay recovered at the Oakland 34. The Packers would get down to the Raiders 3 yard line, but have to settle for a 36 yard field goal after a chop block took away their touchdown on a 4th and goal play. The kick made the score Green Bay 6 to the Raiders 3 which is the score the game was still at when the 3rd quarter ended.
In response the Raiders went right down the field and tied the game again at 6-6 with a field goal of their own. The drive was made possible largely due to a 24 yard catch and run from Griff Whalen, who continues to keep himself in the conversation for a roster spot. There was also a big 10 yard run from Chris Warren III on a 3rd down play to help lead to the 40 yard Mike Nugent field goal.
Green Bay didn’t do anything with their next possession, and the Raiders responded by taking the lead with a 1 yard Chris Warren touchdown run. The biggest play of the drive was a 15 yard catch by Keon Hatcher that had a roughing the passer penalty added on to it and the 2nd biggest play was a somewhat questionable defensive pass interference penalty in the endzone which led to Warren getting his 1 yard touchdown on the next play. The touchdown made the score 13-6 after the Raiders touchdown.
The Packers then got their own help from a big penalty on their next drive after the Raiders had a 15 yard unnecessary roughness penalty added on to an impressive 27 yard reception from Packers 4th round rookie J’Mon Moore. Green Bay did not capitalize on the play though, their drive eventually stalled out just outside of the red zone. The drive ended when Treyvon Hester sacked Kizer on 4th down to give the Raiders the ball back after a turnover on downs.
Oakland needed one more first down after that to close out the game, but they did not get one so they ended up punting back to the Packers with 1:28 left in the 4th quarter. Green Bay needed to go 92 yards to get a touchdown and complete a successful 2 point conversion to win the game. They didn’t do it, Raiders win 13-6.
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