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OAKLAND — Only 17 more days until the Raiders’ season opener, folks. You can do it.
Another ugly affair Friday night had to have left everyone in the Coliseum yearning for regular season football, for this dreadful preseason to come to an end.
The Raiders beat the Packers, 13-6, but you already know the result means nothing. Let’s just fast-forward to Raiders-Rams on Monday Night Football.
But since a game technically took place on Friday, even though it looked nothing like a NFL contest, here are five quick takeaways.
Derek Carr likely done for preseason after seven pass attempts
Jon Gruden said earlier this week his offensive starters would play into the second quarter against the Packers, but Carr’s night ended after one series. He completed 2-of-3 passes for 68 yards, a bomb to Amari Cooper for 49 on the first play from scrimmage and a 19-yard dump to Jared Cook that set up Mike Nugent’s 32-yard field goal to give the Raiders a 3-0 lead after the first drive.
That will more than likely be all we see of No. 4 before the regular season opener against the Rams on Sept. 10.
Assuming Carr doesn’t play against the Seahawks next weekend, he finishes the preseason 4-for-7 with 79 yards passing. Gruden’s offense will remain a complete mystery until it actually counts, which is exactly how the head coach wants it.
Connor Cook…yikes
The Raiders need a backup quarterback, and his name doesn’t seem to be Connor Cook.
After a strong preseason opener against the Lions and a sub-par encore against the Rams, the Raiders’ No. 2 laid an absolute egg on Friday night.
He completed only 6-of-15 passes for 72 yards and an interception in almost an entire half of play. He had Dwayne Harris open over the top for a would-be touchdown but short-armed it for an interception. Cook would’ve thrown two interceptions, the second a pick-six, if not for a defensive holding call bailing him out.
Cook did everything he could against the Packers to hand the backup job to EJ Manuel, who went 8-of-12 with 87 passing yards and a lost fumble, but the Raiders might need to look outside those two regardless.
Donald Penn struggles at right tackle
On the Raiders’ first drive, Packers linebacker Reggie Gilbert bum-rushed Penn on 3rd-and-4 with the Raiders on Green Bay’s four-yard line. Penn bumped into Carr, who fumbled and fell on the ball for an eight-yard loss, forcing Oakland to settle for a field goal on its first drive.
Penn whiffed a couple other times in his first action at right tackle since the 2016 season opener, when he saw 24 snaps there against the Saints due to injuries elsewhere.
Kolton Miller held up on the left side fairly well other than a Clay Matthews blow-by, but as a whole the Raiders’ starting offensive line did little Friday night to assure fans it can return to 2016 levels of dominance just yet. Penn clearly has some kinks to work out at his new position, along with getting back into football shape, and it’s no shock the switch didn’t go smoothly in its first game test.
Arden Key flashes promise at defensive end
On Friday night we saw why Key thinks he would’ve been a top-five pick if not for off-the-field issues at LSU, and why the Raiders feel they plucked a steal in the third round with the defensive end.
Key, who didn’t record a quarterback pressure in eight snaps against the Rams last Saturday, drew a holding penalty and a false start penalty early against the Packers. He seemed to nab his first career (unofficial) sack, too, though Mo Hurst and Fadol Brown were officially credited with the co-takedown of Brett Hundley.
Key took all eight snaps at right end last Saturday, but played some at left end against Green Bay with Bruce Irvin not at the game because of an “excused absence.” If Khalil Mack shows up sometime this season, the Raiders could have something special at defensive end with him, Irvin and Key getting after the quarterback.
Fadol Brown, Shilique Calhoun pushing for roster spots
Without Mack, other defensive ends are getting their chances to shine.
Brown and Calhoun both figure to be squarely on the cut line, but both have made strong cases for the 53-man roster this preseason. Brown recorded a strip-sack, a half-sack and three quarterback hits Friday night, and Calhoun tallied his second sack of the preseason to follow up sturdy performances against the Lions and Rams.
Gruden might not take both with Irvin, Key and Tank Carradine all likely to make it along with Mack, but both youngsters are certainly making Gruden’s decision to cut one that much harder.
