Oakland Raiders: Thoughts on blowout Week 1 loss

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Sep 13, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Matt McGloin (14) prepares to throw a pass against the Cincinnati Bengals in the fourth quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Bengals defeated the Raiders 33-13. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

McGloin Magic doesn’t extend to Week 1

The preseason success of Matt McGloin begged the question on how the third-year quarterback’s play in August would translate to running the first team offense, a question that was unfortunately answered for the majority of Sunday’s game against the Bengals after Derek Carr exited due to a hand injury. McGloin getting his chance to play in the regular season in spot duty, and the results were mixed in a game that was already a blowout when the backup entered play.

McGloin threw for 142 yards on 23/31 passing, forced into a short passing game with little preparation going into Week 1 with the first team. Turning the ball over on a few occasions, but finishing strong in the end with two late touchdowns to Marcel Reece to cushion the unflattering scoreline during garbage time.

The relief appearance was the usual scrappy outing for McGloin, who flashed some positive play while also committing some turnovers that helped kill off any hope of a miracle comeback. Confirming that as a backup McGloin can move the ball in case of emergency, but also confirming that the Raiders are making the right choice seeing what their second round draft pick in Carr can do as a prospect over opening up the quarterback job to competition between the two.

If Carr misses more time there is a chance McGloin could have another chance to prove that he belongs as a starter in the NFL, but his up and down performance in relief showed that he is best suited as a capable backup. Despite McGloin being more experienced this time around as an emergency QB, don’t expect a repeat of 2013 as Carr will be the clear number one quarterback when healthy as the Scranton Scrapper just doesn’t have enough magic in his arm to entice the coaching staff to have a conversation about the young quarterbacks in terms of a competition.

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