Raiders vs. Seahawks: 4 Winners, 4 Losers

The Raiders’ preseason winning streak has sadly come to an end, as the Silver and Black lost to Seattle 17-15. The game was mostly an unwatchable slog, filled with guys who might be third string or might be in the upcoming XFL Draft, but some players stood out, for good or ill.

WINNERS

1) Keelan Doss

Doss was the boss for the Raiders’ receiving corps tonight, catching six passes for 63 yards. He also dropped some passes he normally catches, but Seattle’s secondary had their hair on fire all night and were up in his business. Doss really stood out amongst Oakland’s gaggle of second-tier receivers and he’s likely secured a roster spot.

2) Ben Burr-Kirven

I would rather not talk about him, because I’m loathe to praise any washington husky player, but Burr-Kirven is a stud and proved it tonight. He led Seattle with 12 tackles (five solo), a sack, two tackles for loss, a pass defensed and a quarterback hit. It’s difficult to imagine a linebacker having a better day than that, and it’s hard to imagine Pete Carroll keeping him off the field when it counts.

3) A.J. Cole

Johnny Townsend is now a distant memory, as Cole has seized Oakland’s punting job with aplomb. Cole blasted five punts for a total of 243 yards tonight, an average of 48.6. Two of them were inside the 20, but Oakland’s field position was awful tonight and the only thing that made it tenable and kept Seattle’s drives from being easy was Cole’s leg. Yet another undrafted free agent who’s showing out for the Raiders.

4) Ethan Westbrooks

Westbrooks is in a tough spot. as he was signed following the release of Ronald Ollie when the Raiders already have more quality defensive tackles than they can keep. That problem was compounded with the emergence of Anthony Rush as a legitimate roster candidate. But Westbrooks has been putting together some great tape, and his three tackles, sack, and batted pass tonight will surely land him a job somewhere, whether Oakland or elsewhere.

LOSERS

1) Paxton Lynch

We knew this dude was bad, but my God, this was a new low. Lynch went 1-7 for four yards and took a 10-yard sack from the aforementioned Westbrooks, in a performance almost as bad as Jimmy Garoppolo against the Broncos two weeks ago. Lynch will not only not make the Seahawks, but will surely be out of the NFL entirely, begging Vince McMahon for a job.

2) Raiders offensive line

I’m really relieved these guys aren’t the starters, because they were dominated by Seattle’s front all night long. They allowed three sacks, four QB hits and constant pressure. The Raiders did manage to rush for 114 yards, but it took 34 carries to do so. The Raider quarterbacks mostly had to attempt short passes because they had no time to throw. Brandon Parker in particular was abysmal as usual.

3) Mike Glennon

If you look at his stats, you’d think Mike Glennon was just fine. He went 9/14 for 78 yards, which isn’t bad for a little over a quarter of work. It’s just that he was so uninspiring. There’s nothing I can point to and say, “yes, Mike Glennon is the guy.” He’s immobile and blase as a player, and that’s the worst thing you can be when you are in a division full of dominant defensive lines. Was Nate Peterman better? I’d say so, and he at least can get out and run a read option play. Watching Mike Glennon run the read option would be like watching Kurt Warner do the Dougie.

4) Seattle secondary

While the Raiders had a relatively penalty-free game, drawing five flags for 37 yards, the Seahawks racked up the penalties with 10 for 109. Most of these were stupid unnecessary roughness and interference calls, and Shalom Luani had several of them himself. They played hard- a bit too hard. They may get away with that against the Raiders’ third string, but they won’t get away with it against the Rams starters down the road.