Our First Write up from our writers from sundays games, Oakland Raiders at Indianapolis Colts By Kees Groeneveld - Raiders fan. To start the 2014 season the Raiders were up against the Indianapolis Colts in Lucas Oil Stadium. Going into the game the Raiders went with Terrell Pryor as their starting QB. Pryor beat out the projected starter Matt Flynn, who really had a disappointing training camp and preseason, not helped by a shoulder injury. The offensive line going into the game also was plagues by injuries, so having the very mobile Pryor out there was actually a blessing. On the defense the Raiders have seen a total revamp with only 2 players in the starting line-up of what was left from last season. Who did return to the Raider however was the fan favourite Charles Woodson, who after spending his first 8 season with the Raiders, went on to play his next 7 seasons with the Green Bay Packers and turned into a great player. His veteran presence will be all important to the Raider defense this season. The Colts won the coin toss but selected to defer, so the Raiders were starting with their offense. Pryor started well, moving the offense downfield with some nice throws and he went 3 for 3 before throwing an interception in the end zone. This gave the Colts an opportunity to move downfield and they did so in proper fashion, mixing up their plays quite well leaving the Raider D helpless to stop them. The drive ended with a 12 yard TD pass from Andrew Luck to Reggie Wayne. PAT was good and the score 7-0 was on the board. On the next Raider drive again Pryor moved the ball downfield, but after two first downs the Raiders found themselves in a 4th and 2 situation midfield. They went for it, but not really; Trying to draw the Colts D off site with the snap count they ended up with a delay of game penalty and then decided to punt after all. In the meantime the game was into the second quarter. Indy took over and comfortably moved the ball. Some cross routes by the receivers worked out very well and the Raiders had no way of stopping the Colts. This drive did not end before Luck threw his second TD pass, this time to tight end Dwayne Allen, and the score was 14-0. During the next Raider drive Pryor showed his athleticism by running the ball himself, having defenders miss tackles. On one particular play he stiff armed Laron Landry, stopping him dead cold, and ran over a side judge. He even fooled the camera team at one stage when he faked a handoff to Darren McFadden and then ran the ball himself around the left. When the camera picked him up again he was already a good 7-8 yards downfield. This particular drive did end with a Raider score with McFadden ploughing through the middle from 1 yard out. The score 14-7. During the remainder of the first half no points were added to the board by either team, and with time running out Janikowski even missed a 48 yard field goal attempt, which is a very rare occurrence. Let’s blame the holder here shall we ? In the second half, the Raider Defense really stepped to the plate. Andrew Luck was put under enormous pressure – he ended the game being sacked 4 times - and had defensive personnel in his face pretty much all of the remainder of the game. The Raider offense kept doing what they were doing before and were able to bring the score back after a 38 yard FG by Janikowski. 14-10 to Indy. On the next Raider drive a McFadden TD catch was called back after review, as he was not able to bring in two feet in the end zone. But unfazed by this set back the Raiders moved on and managed to score later on in the same drive with a 5 yard TD pass to Denarius Moore, taking the lead for the first time in the game: 14-17 But then Indy came back on the field, and helped by a couple of penalties from the Raider defense , thereby extending the drive, Andrew Luck brought the Colts back on top with a 19 yard TD run: 21-17. The Raiders did get the ball back with around 1 minute 50 left on the clock, and went for the kill. Again Pryors mobility and more than decent passing skills – a 41 yard completion to the TE Mastrud for example – kept the Raiders moving. But in the end it wasn’t to be. In the dying moments of the game, with a victory in sight, Pryor threw his second interception in the end zone. Indy managed to hold on to the lead and the score was 21-17 in their favour. The outlook for the Raiders at the start of the season as projected by NFL pundits, was not the most optimistic , to say the least. My view is that even after what they have shown yesterday, which was very positive, they have a long way to go. Making the play offs would be a huge bonus. Bear in mind that they have the mighty Broncos in their division, so the best you could realistically hope for is a wild card. But I have seen something in these Raiders last night, that I haven’t seen for years. There is a spark in this team on both sides of the ball. And they will surprise a lot of other teams. Next up: the Jacksonville Jaguars at home on Sunday 15 September.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 08:48:46 +0000
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