Raiders lose to field goal in Exhibition (Come'on Man)

We know it's only the first exhibition game. We know there's a new coaching staff with a new playbook.  What we don't know is how the heck the Oakland Raiders could lose a home game 0-3 to the stumbling, bumbling Dallas Cowboys.

Don't tell me we played mostly our third string unit, or that the defense shut down the Cowboys offense for the majority of the game.  The half-time pee-wee league offensive teams looked more in-synch and competitive than the Raiders or Cowboys. Just so happens one of the pee-wee teams were Cowboys!

The game was pretty much an exercise in futility for all participants on offense.  Had Raiders running back Darren McFadden stayed in the game longer, the Raiders would've clearly blown Dallas off the field.  But give credit to Coach Allen for pulling DMac early, avoiding anything resembling an injury.  We fans saw enough to know that we got a running game as long as #20 stays healthy.  Only problem now is his main backups are out nursing injuries, and those who filled in last night weren't getting first downs.

I wasn't going to say it but what the heck. There was a Jamarcus Russell sighting on the field last night for the Raiders.  He came in the person of #6 QB Terrelle Pryor. His performance was the talk of us frustrated fans in the stands as our expectations of a young prototype quarterback were dashed and left damaged on the Coliseum baseball field.

After watching Terrelle Pryor attempt to run the Raiders offense, we know he can still run like he did in college two years ago.  Unfortunately, what we also learned is that he has little to no field vision and he simply can't throw a football.  I heard radio commentators say that coaches working with Pryor in practice corrected his bad footwork that caused throws to nosedive into the turf in front of intended receivers, however, the bad habit seemed to return with a vengeance in last night's real game situation. 

Today my Broncos buddy asked who "That" quarterback for the Raiders was running around like a chicken with his head cut off.  I could reply with nothing but the truth: he's why we play preseason exhibition games. If #6 continues in his slow to no pro development, I say we cut bait and cast for another third string quarterback to carry the clipboard this season. 

I hope I'm wrong about Pryor. Maybe you can teach good on-field decision making in a few weeks. Unfortunately, Pryor follows in the footprints of one JaMarcus Russell; a Raiders quarterback who's physical attributes and arm strength brought salivating promise but failed to deliver on the field. It was a costly Raiders experiment that failed so miserably it's earned the unheralded title of biggest bust in NFL history.  

Ironically, the Raiders player wearing JaMarcus's #2 jersey last night was the most impressive. Punter Marquette King boomed the majority of his punts as if he'd gone to the Ray Guy - Shane Lechler school for punting.  Us fans had been told about him, but seeing those punts of his hang up their in the coliseum atmosphere like a brown blimp taking pictures of the place was a thing of beauty to behold.  King has next to no chance of making the roster, unless he can see open receivers and get them the ball, but I'm sure other teams are licking their chops waiting for his cut date.

Almost forgot that our #2 quarterback, Matt Leinert, completed 11/16 passes for 98 yards with no interceptions. Rookie wide receiver Rod Streater had 6 receptions for 66 yards while veteran Jacoby Ford had a few drops. Again, the Defense was solid in stopping the run.