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Postgame wrap
Posted by Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer on Saturday at 1:18 am
News and notes from Friday night's 20-10 win by the Raiders over the St. Louis Rams:
– After watching both Daunte Culpepper and Josh McCown play well, coach Lane Kiffin said regarding the starting quarterback, "We might have answer for you tomrorw or we might go into this next game (in Seattle) without an answer."
– Culpepper actually underthrew a couple of deep passes, but he didn't turn the ball over and again showed the ability to run for first downs. His 19-yard scoring pass to Ronald Curry came on a throw over the middle in which Curry made Tye Hill miss and then ran through a vacated middle for the score.
Culpepper did not fumble the ball and has not thrown an interception in the preseason.
– McCown actually had better stats, going 6-for-9 for 138 yards, with 49 of those coming on a beautifully executed screen to LaMont Jordan, who later scored a touchdown from a yard out.
Left tackle Barry Sims said one of the St. Louis players said, "Hey look, it's Rich Gannon" in reference to McCown's mobility.
"He did kind of look like Rich Gannon out there," Sims said.
McCown's best two passing plays were back-to-back strikes of 18 and 19 yards to John Madsen, the first on a bootleg rollout and the second when Madsen made a nice snag of a low throw.
McCown, who did lose a fumble, sometimes seems to throw better on the run than he does from the pocket.
– Andrew Walter completed 2 of 5 passes for 19 yards and was in the game when the Raiders were mostly trying to kill the clock.
– Jordan lost a fumble at the goal line when he tried to extend the ball, with St. Louis recovering in the end zone for a touchback.
"Fumbling the ball is one thing, but when you fumble going into score, that's unacceptable," Jordan said.
– After Rams quartergback Marc Bulger hit Isaac Bruce for a 40-yard gain over Fabian Washington on the first play from scrimmage, the Raiders forced him into shaky 8-for-19 passing performance.
"I'm very excited about the way our defense played today," Kiffin said. "We wanted to establish a personality so when people came to (play) the Raiders, they knew what they were getting into."
– Cornerback Chris Johnson, Kiffin said, made the "play of the game" when he forced a fumble from quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick after a big gain that was fumbled through the end zone for a touchback when the Rams could have tightened the game.
It helped atone for a Johnson hold which erased what would have been a 56-yard punt return for a touchdown by Johnnie Lee Higgins.
– Kiffin was generally unimpressed by Oakland's offensive performance, even if the play of that unit remains encouraging when compared to how the Raiders played last season.
He cited two turnovers and four sacks and Jordan's meager 2.3 yards per carry average (18 carries, 41 yards) as an indication the play up front needed to be better.
– Adimchinobe Echemandu, again playing with the third string, carried 14 times for 60 yards but also dropped a pass over the middle. He twice converted runs on fourth down. Jordan also twice ran for first downs on fourth-and-1.
– The Raiders took the ball for the last time with 8:20 remaining and ran out the clock at the St. Louis 13-yard-line. Oakland finished with a 36:27 to 23:33 advantage in time of possession.
– Linebacker Ricky Brown had four tackles and couldn't quite hold what would have been an acrobatic, juggling interception.
– Linebacker Robert Thomas left the game with a knee injury of undetermined severity.
Posted by Jerry McDonald - NFL Writer on Saturday at 1:18 am
News and notes from Friday night's 20-10 win by the Raiders over the St. Louis Rams:
– After watching both Daunte Culpepper and Josh McCown play well, coach Lane Kiffin said regarding the starting quarterback, "We might have answer for you tomrorw or we might go into this next game (in Seattle) without an answer."
– Culpepper actually underthrew a couple of deep passes, but he didn't turn the ball over and again showed the ability to run for first downs. His 19-yard scoring pass to Ronald Curry came on a throw over the middle in which Curry made Tye Hill miss and then ran through a vacated middle for the score.
Culpepper did not fumble the ball and has not thrown an interception in the preseason.
– McCown actually had better stats, going 6-for-9 for 138 yards, with 49 of those coming on a beautifully executed screen to LaMont Jordan, who later scored a touchdown from a yard out.
Left tackle Barry Sims said one of the St. Louis players said, "Hey look, it's Rich Gannon" in reference to McCown's mobility.
"He did kind of look like Rich Gannon out there," Sims said.
McCown's best two passing plays were back-to-back strikes of 18 and 19 yards to John Madsen, the first on a bootleg rollout and the second when Madsen made a nice snag of a low throw.
McCown, who did lose a fumble, sometimes seems to throw better on the run than he does from the pocket.
– Andrew Walter completed 2 of 5 passes for 19 yards and was in the game when the Raiders were mostly trying to kill the clock.
– Jordan lost a fumble at the goal line when he tried to extend the ball, with St. Louis recovering in the end zone for a touchback.
"Fumbling the ball is one thing, but when you fumble going into score, that's unacceptable," Jordan said.
– After Rams quartergback Marc Bulger hit Isaac Bruce for a 40-yard gain over Fabian Washington on the first play from scrimmage, the Raiders forced him into shaky 8-for-19 passing performance.
"I'm very excited about the way our defense played today," Kiffin said. "We wanted to establish a personality so when people came to (play) the Raiders, they knew what they were getting into."
– Cornerback Chris Johnson, Kiffin said, made the "play of the game" when he forced a fumble from quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick after a big gain that was fumbled through the end zone for a touchback when the Rams could have tightened the game.
It helped atone for a Johnson hold which erased what would have been a 56-yard punt return for a touchdown by Johnnie Lee Higgins.
– Kiffin was generally unimpressed by Oakland's offensive performance, even if the play of that unit remains encouraging when compared to how the Raiders played last season.
He cited two turnovers and four sacks and Jordan's meager 2.3 yards per carry average (18 carries, 41 yards) as an indication the play up front needed to be better.
– Adimchinobe Echemandu, again playing with the third string, carried 14 times for 60 yards but also dropped a pass over the middle. He twice converted runs on fourth down. Jordan also twice ran for first downs on fourth-and-1.
– The Raiders took the ball for the last time with 8:20 remaining and ran out the clock at the St. Louis 13-yard-line. Oakland finished with a 36:27 to 23:33 advantage in time of possession.
– Linebacker Ricky Brown had four tackles and couldn't quite hold what would have been an acrobatic, juggling interception.
– Linebacker Robert Thomas left the game with a knee injury of undetermined severity.
