|
|
|
|
|
New season, different look for Raiders
By Jeremy Kahn August 11, 2007 |
||
|
|
|||
|
OAKLAND-It maybe just an exhibition game, but the Oakland Raiders definitely look much different from the team that went 2-14 last season. Sebastian Janikowski kicked a 27-yard field goal with 8:10 remaining in the game, as the Raiders made a winner of Lane Kiffin a winner in his preseason debut with a 27-23 victory over the Arizona Cardinals at McAfee Coliseum. Josh McCown went 5-for-9 with 42 yards passing in limited action before giving way to the only returning quarterback from the 2006 team, Andrew Walter. “Thought Josh did okay,” said Kiffin. Also in limited action, Walter went 8-for-11 with 50 yards passing and a three-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams, who made a spectacular catch over Darrell Hunter. Daunte Culpepper made his first appearance in the Silver and Black, and on his first play from scrimmage, Culpepper was sacked and fumbled the ball; however, he was able to recover the ball. “Daunte came in and had a rough start,” said Kiffin. Culpepper hooked up with Johnnie Lee Higgins on a 50-yard pass play that helped the Raiders get into scoring range with just over 10 minutes remaining in the game. “Felt really good to role out of the pocket,” said Culpepper. The Raiders got on the board, as Dominic Rhodes scored on a one-yard run with 1:15 gone in the second quarter. “”He was very patient,” said Kiffin. That lead lasted all of two minutes and 10 seconds, as Kurt Warner found Bryant Johnson for a 58-yard touchdown pass to tie up the game. Just a little over two and a half minutes later, Hiram Eugene intercepted a Warner and returned it 36 yards to the end zone to give the Raiders a seven-point lead. Kind of read the quarterback,” said Eugene. With less than 30 seconds remaining in the first half, Walter and Williams connected for their three-yard touchdown pass and the Raiders looked to go into the locker room with a 21-7 lead at the half. “He still has a long way to go,” said Kiffin. Unfortunately, somebody forgot to the Cardinals that the half should have ended with the touchdown reception by Williams. Rackers nailed a 59-yard field goal with no time remaining on the clock, as the Cardinals cut the Raiders lead down to 21-10. “We did some things but obviously we got to do some things better we haven’t turned the ball over, we haven’t given up a sack so that is pretty good, we got one back on defense and we just got to come out and execute in the second half,” said Kiffin at the half. Third-string Cardinals quarterback Shane Boyd cut the Raiders 11-point lead down to 21-17, when he scored on an eight-yard scamper through the Raiders defense. Rackers then hit a 37-yard field goal, to cut the Raiders lead down to 21-20 and Rackers gave the Cardinals their first lead of the night, when he hit a 25-yard field goal, to put the Cardinals up 23-21. Cardinals starting quarterback Matt Leinart, who played for Kiffin at USC, went 5-for-11 with 50 yards passing. Kiffin was the Passing Game Coordinator for USC when Leinart won the 2004 Heisman Trophy and in 2005, Kiffin was the Offensive Coordinator for the Trojans. As fate would have it, when the Trojans won the National Championship in 2003, Leinart’s favorite receiver that season none other than Williams, who caught a three-yard touchdown pass from Walter to give the Raiders a 14-7 lead. In the 2004 Rose Bowl, Williams threw a touchdown pass to Leinart, as the Trojans defeated the University of Michigan Wolverines 28-14 on their way to their first National Championship since 1978. Tyler Frederickson gave the Raiders their final points of the evening, as he nailed a 48-yard field goal off of the infield dirt. Fredrickson hit the field goal from where Bobby Crosby would take the field as the shortstop for the Oakland A’s. NOTES: In their second game of four exhibition games this season, the Raiders will travel to Candlestick Park to face the San Francisco 49ers on August 18. Last season, the Raiders defeated the 49ers 23-7 in the exhibition season on August 19; however, the 49ers gained revenge and Bay Area bragging rights in the regular season with 34-20 at Candlestick on October 8. |
|||
|
|
|||
|
|
|||