Silver And Black Pride
Pete Carroll tried to put forth his best effort in his return to Seattle where he spent 14 seasons as the Seahawks head coach Thursday night in his first preseason game as the Las Vegas Raiders’ head coach.
After indicating his starters would play this week, Carroll followed through as his starting offense, including new quarterback and former Seattle quarterback Geno Smith, took the field.
After a couple of successful plays, though, the drive died out quickly with back-to-back drops by Michael Mayer and rookie Dont’a Thornton and Las Vegas was forced to punt.
In the end, Carroll’s Raiders’ debut ended with sloppy, disorganized a 23-23 tie in which Seattle’s backups beat the Raiders’ starters early. The Raiders’ deep backups outscored the Seahawks’ deep backups 20-7 in the second half to force the tie (no overtime in the preseason).
Here are some observations of the game in which were overall flat in Carroll’s debut:
Unlike the Raiders, Seattle used mostly backups to start the game as Drew Lock was the starting quarterback. The Raiders’ starting defense played to start the game like the starting offense. The Seahawks moved the ball very well against the Raiders’ starters. However, a poor throw by Lock was intercepted by starting Las Vegas safety Isaiah Pola-Mao inside the 10-yard line.
The Raiders began the game in 12 personnel (two tight ends, Brock Bowers and Mayer) and it may be their base offense under new offensive coordinator Chip Kelly.
Jordan Meredith started at center and Jackson Powers-Johnson was at a guard spot. They both played into the second half. It sure looks like this where it’s headed in terms for the regular season between Meredith and Jackson-Powers, which is turning out to be a bit of a surprise.
Some of the Raiders’ first-team offense was on the field for the second series as Raiders first-round pick Ashton Jeanty was bottled up. He had minus-1 yard on three carries. It was a slow start for Jeanty who has flashed in training camp. But it’s the preseason. No biggie.
On third and 14 from their 5, backup quarterback Aidan O’Connell hit Thornton for a first down. Thornton has impressed in training camp and it was good to translate to a game. The Raiders’ second series ended in a punt as well.
Some Raiders’ defensive starters were on the field on the Seahawks’ second series. It ended with a long touchdown series ending with a 23-yard touchdown run by George Holani, who was teammates with Jeanty at Boise State. Holani ate up the Raiders on the ground with seven carries for 61 yards in the first two series, again, against several Las Vegas starters.
Rookies, cornerback Darien Porter and defensive tackle J.J Pegues, both started. Free-agent Eric Stokes also started at cornerback.
Zamir White, took the opening kickoff and had some success. White, last year’s original starting running back may need to have a good preseason at make the team and perhaps returning kicks will help his cause. Backup...
