Oakland Raiders defeat the Detroit Lions at the final whistle
Aug 15, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders tight end Mychal Rivera (81) is defended by Detroit Lions linebacker Ashlee Palmer (58) at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The tight position is not as bad as we thought. Mychal Rivera held up very well most of his time on the field, and he can catch the ball. Jake Murphy proved to be a very good run blocker, and his ability to get open in the back of the end zone shifted the momentum of the football game.
This was a much-needed victory after a whirlwind week that started in Oxnard, CA, against the Dallas Cowboys, and ended in Oakland, CA, against the Detroit Lions. All that hard work and preparation finally paid off. The 1st string offense got their TD, the 2nd string offense got their TD, and the 3rd string offense got their TD. Not bad. Raider Nation ignited the Raiders players with the energy necessary to pull ahead in the waning seconds of the game. Great job Raider Nation, great job!
The Oakland Raiders will play the Green Bay Packers this coming week, and it will be the first full week of preparation for the players. As usual, the third game of the preseason will be the dress rehearsal for the offense and defense. The 1st string secondary (mainly Tarell Brown) has a lot of work to do, because they got ate up all night by Matthew Stafford. Hopefully they can lift their heads up and start playing like Pro-Bowlers. At least Carlos Rogers had a better game than the first preseason game. Golden Tate made Brown look like a high school player in his very first game. That can’t happen in the regular season.
Still, we, the Raider Nation, can revel in the victory our team had last night. Although it was a brief glimpse of the 1st string offense, it was enough to show how much improvement this team has made offensively. Defensively there were some good things, but it’s clear that the secondary needs the most work. Still, there’s a lot of time to make those improvements before the games are for real.