Raiders Come Up Short vs. Cardinals on Sunday Night

Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' Sunday Night preseason matchup vs. the Arizona Cardinals where the Raiders had control for the majority of the first half, but the Cardinals came back to beat the Raiders 30-23.

Time to get my feet wet for the first full recap of the season for me. The Raiders had a chance to showcase what they can do on national television and the way it ended, it was 50-50. The 1st team defense looked great out there and I'll get to them in a second. However, there were jitters on the offense. In fact, both offenses struggled. It isn't until the 1st string was taken out that both managed to find the end zone. Although the last Cardinals possession was a back breaker, as an NFL fan, those were some "never say never" type plays by Arizona's Ifeanyi Momah. But going back, the 1st team offense had some great looks to cash in and they did nothing but squander some opportunities.

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Defense (1st team). Let's take a look at the good first, Khalil Mack is a beast. Enough said. When teams run on his side, no chance in hell they'll get a big gain. Just the shear idea of Mack converting from OLB to DE is making the D-line a lot better because he's generating that pressure, putting the Tackles on ice, and he's drawing a lot of double and triple teams to give other D-linemen a shot. Dan Williams was able to get pressure, Denico Autry, heck even Mario Edwards, Jr. was able to get a sack with the first team and Edwards' stock may be rising with the way he played the last two preseason games. The linebackers were solid; Lofton and Smith were able to get nice tackles, especially when the Cardinals were calling screen passes. The shaky secondary did not suck, although the Cardinals called some big plays for big yardages, which made my heart drop just a little, the secondary held its own to negate most of them. For the most part, the first team defense were at its best tonight and maybe the world got to see up close why Mack was ranked #49 on the NFL's top 100 list of 2015.

Matt McGloin, 11-15 passes, 114 passing yards, 1 pass TD. Never sleep on Matt McGloin, just three preseasons in, he is threatening to take Ponder's spot as the QB2. He had a good showing in the first preseason game vs. the Rams, an off night against the Vikings, but he flat out outperformed Christian Ponder this game. Though Ponder made a couple of nice throws, he just couldn't put together a solid drive. Not to mention, he was sacked a couple times. When McGloin was put in with the 2nd-3rd stringers, he was "as cool  as the other side of the pillow (RIP Stuart Scott)" and lead the Raiders to a game tying drive. In all likelihood, though Ponder is Musgrave's boy, McGloin is going to get that QB2 spot and will probably keep that spot for good.

Seth Roberts, 3 receptions, 52 receiving yards. The wide receiver spot is definitely going to be a headache for the coaches because outside of Crabtree and Cooper, the rest of the receiver spot is up for grabs. Roberts follows another hidden gem that Reggie McKenzie uncovered from the undrafted free agent list and he has shined through the preseason. After this game, Roberts becomes the new dark horse to make the roster as roster cuts loom.

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Running game. The running game as a whole was awful, but from a first string point of view, the Tay Train was nowhere to be found. Latavius Murray only managed to get just a mere 1 yard on 7 carries. The Cardinals' run defense did a good job containing him, there was nothing that the Raiders can do, so we had to re-live the old days of the running game being out of the playbook and resorting to pass like a million times. Reece was implemented, couldn't get anything. Trent Richardson had a nice run, but he's still not convincing to have a breakout year and in all likelihood make the team. The running game disappeared and it's not a good sign if the Raiders are going to go up against really good run defenses.

Derek Carr. Despite 200+ yards passing, I'm not going to let the stats fool me. Derek Carr did not have an outstanding game tonight. He flashed at times, but he's overthrown a lot of his passes this game. Notably, there were two occasions he overthrew Amari Cooper and he overthrew the fade route to Michael Crabtree to get a potential a TD. But the true back breaker of the game is that Pick 6 in the 3rd quarter. I'm sure Carr will learn from that, but just throw the ball away in that situation.

Conclusion

If I could evaluate this game, it's a mixed reception in terms of the Raiders' performance. If I'm Jack Del Rio and Ken Norton, Jr., I gotta be happy with the way the defense played for the most part before the 2nd and 3rd stringers came in. They shut down the Cardinals offense and had Carson Palmer rattled for the majority the game. If I'm Bill Musgrave, the offense has a lot of work to do before they can talk about being a potent offense. The rhythm, timing, and communication just wasn't there. Anyway, this is a taste of what is to come for the 2015 season. I'll see you guys in two weeks when the Raiders take on the Bengals on opening day. I will have a season preview before that though, so stay tuned. I'll see you guys later.

SNF: RAIDERS vs. Arizona Cardinals Preseason Week 3 Q-by-Q Reaction

Q4:

Score: AZ 30 OAK 23

Well, whenever Matt McGloin's in the game with the 2nd-3rd stringers, it's usually entertaining. He was able to lead the Raiders for a tie, unfortunately they couldn't hold on. But evaluating the first stringers, the defense looked great, the offense was not all that great despite putting some decent drives, they couldn't convert those into TDs. Stay tuned for the full recap.

Q3:

Score: AZ 10 OAK 15

This quarter ended with a sigh. Not a very good way for Derek Carr to end his night, throwing a pick 6 to the house. Despite the good stats, Carr had a so-so night and that pick was just all bad. That also had a domino effect, I'd put in the 2nd string defense right about now. Mack had a good outing, now would be great to take him out.

Q2:

Score: AZ 3 OAK 15

I really like what I'm seeing from the defense so far. The D-line is putting some heat on most of Carson Palmer's passes, Nate Allen showing off his ballhawk skills, and Khalil Mack putting the Cardinals' O-line on roller skates! Getting after Palmer and notching two sacks at the end of the half. The offense made some strides, but there's a lot more work to do to turn those field goals into touchdowns. Onto the halftime report.

Q1:

Score: AZ 0 OAK 6

Good opportunity to get my feet wet before the regular season. So far, the defense is doing fine, but the offense is off to a really slow start. The Cardinals surprised a little bit on the first play with a bubble screen to Larry Fitzgerald and though their O is dominating the TOP, the defense is holding out on its own, which should please Del Rio. The offense started off ugly, though the catch by Mychal Rivera jump started the offense, then they went no huddle to pick it up. However, those quick 3 and outs have blown some opportunites to give the defense a rest and lead to some missed opportunities to put more points on the board.

RAIDERS vs. Cardinals Halftime Post

Score: AZ 3 OAK 15

Welcome in to a special halftime post of the Raiders' 3rd preseason matchup with the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday Night Football where the Raiders lead 3-15 heading into the locker room.

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Defense. The defense is making some noise in prime time for this game and they are firing on all cylinders, from the D-line to the linebackers, to the secondary. Nate Allen had some pretty good INTs. On his first INT, I thought he had that inbounds and it was a good challenge by Jack Del Rio to give the Raiders offense some good field position in their opening drive. Malcolm Smith made some nice tackles, Dan Williams and Denico Autry made some pretty nice pushes to generate pressure. But the main story here is Khalil Mack, 2 sacks against Carson Palmer. He is literally beating the Cardinals O-line like a bush. He has owned Jared Veldheer so far this game.

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Running Game. The rest of the offense are starting to pick it up, but the running game is not getting anything going. Latavius Murray, only 1 yard and lost a lot of yardage, Marcel Reece and Trent Richardson can get nothing. The Cardinals' run defense is pretty solid and credit to them for containing the Raiders' game. Based on observation, that right side of the O-line is getting exposed and Donald Penn looks like he's showing his age, constituting why some run plays blew up in front of the Raiders offense.

Bottom Line

Luckily for the Raiders offense, they get the ball back since they implemented their defense first. The first stringers get one more chance for another look to put together a solid drive capping off with a touchdown before they put the 2nd stringers in. The defense, hopefully they keep playing like this throughout whole game. I'm loving it so far. Let's see what happens.

TrueRaiderLaker Productions #1: 2015 Oakland Raiders New Generation + Mack, Carr, Cooper Thumbnail Wallpaper!

Since the file size is too big, I will make a little change that my videos will be uploaded to my YouTube channel first. Now that that's out of the way. This is the first series of multimedia content I'm providing here in the blog and the first wallpaper/video combo! This is the 2015 Oakland Raiders - New Generation video.

Description

It's almost game time as the Raiders will take on the Rams for their first preseason action. Never have I felt this optimistic for this season. The future of the Oakland Raiders is very bright as they have a lot of young talent that'll play key roles to ensure this team competes for many years to come. Reggie McKenzie, he's not always perfect, but he has establish a stable core, adding cornerstones in Khalil Mack, Derek Carr, and recently adding another one in Amari Cooper. Aside from the obvious big 3, he's added a lot of late round steals, late round studs, and undrafted gems that'll make solid contributions and speed up the rebuilding process a little bit.

Normally, I seldom listen to this kind of rap music, but yes as the title of the song suggest, this is a new generation of Raiders that'll drive this team back to glory and end almost a decade long series of brutality since the 2002. I truly believe that this is the season that the Raiders will turn some heads around. Sure, there's still some holes that need to be addressed in order for this roster to compete among the elite teams, but given this coaching staff with Jack Del Rio, Bill Musgrave, Mike Tice, and Ken Norton, Jr., they'll get the most out of this roster and light a fire that'll burn an eternal flame inside these players throughout the season.

I'm excited for this season and I can't wait to watch this new-look Raiders team in action in just a few hours. This is my first Raiders-related video. Here's to 2015 Raider Nation! Enjoy the video!

Mack, Carr, Cooper - The Future (Wallpaper)

In addition, here's the thumbnail I'm using for this video. This is also a background wallpaper so right click and save away. This is background wallpaper of Mack, Carr, and Cooper as they highlight the future for this Raiders squad. I also added the Bay Bridge for the finishing touches. Yes, I know their future in the Bay Area is up in the air, I'm indifferent about them moving to Los Angeles since I'm a Laker fan anyway, but we can't forget where the Raiders of the future were built, in Oaktown. 

MechG Update: Ladies and Gentlemen, I Present to You, TrueRaiderLaker Productions

Sup guys, MechG here. You may know me as yours truly, the blogmaster here for the True Raider Laker blog, covering games for the Raiders and Lakers and covering the Super Bowl and NBA Finals regardless. Outside of my blog aside from collaborating with my friend Stillmattic on his blog, there are two hobbies that I like to do, make videos and Photoshop. My Amari Cooper and Derek Carr, AC/DC background wallpaper has gone viral and to all those websites and social media users who used my background, I thank you guys from the bottom of my heart that my wallpaper has gone viral and so has my blog for a short period of time. So, this inspired me to do more. Aside from posting here, I decided to utilize my hobbies with you guys more to provide multimedia content to view, comment, and download. Here, I present to you, TrueRaiderLaker Productions.

What is TrueRaiderLaker Productions?

TrueRaiderLaker Productions is going to be my multimedia subsidiary for this blog that is going to provide background wallpapers to download and videos to view. All of the content will be either Raider or Laker-related and considering that football season is coming, there will be a disparity for more Raider content than Laker content for the meantime. The background wallpapers will either contain cool designs from my hard earned work or reference to pop culture and I have a Raider-related pop culture background in the works, which I will reveal below. In terms of videos, I have made two Laker-related videos that serve as a precursor to the establishment of TrueRaiderLaker Productions: The 2012-2013 Lakers Montage and the Kobe Bryant "The Heart is Still Beating" vignette. Future videos will follow the model for those videos I've made in the past.

How will I showcase my content?

For background wallpapers, I will post them here and then they will go viral on my Instagram account (see "The MechG Network" column for more details). That's how the Amari Cooper, Derek Carr, AC/DC wallpaper I made went viral. If I continue at this pace to provide more background wallpapers, I may start up a Deviantart account and link it to the network in the near future or just let it stay at home base here and you, the follower and the casual viewer can right click and save. 

For the videos, I will simulcast them on three fronts: the blog, my YouTube channel, and my Instagram account (the good 15 second portions of the video). I honestly don't mind the logjam on my YouTube channel as a majority of them contain short videos, song mashups, and Anime Music Video/Game Music Video (AMV/GMV) content. I love to connect to a diverse fanbase out there and whether you love sports, anime, video games, wrestling, or all of them. I will welcome you guys in with open arms. Though those interests may not belong with each other, they do for me and we can probably connect with at least one or two common interest. Don't be afraid to view any of my videos because my number one emphasis on my channel is to promote versatility and diversity.

Content in the Works

Oakland Raiders 2015 Hype - New Generation (Video)

Mack, Carr, Cooper - The Future (Wallpaper) (Will be used as the thumbnail for my New Generation video)

Khalil Mack - Attack on Peyton (Wallpaper) (Reference to popular Anime series, Attack on Titan)

Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson, D'Angelo Russell - Heirs to the Throne (Wallpaper + Video) (TBD based on my schedule)

I look forward to the success of this stint. Hopefully, I can post the Raiders Hype video by tomorrow before the first preseason game against the Rams. Thanks for your time guys and for your support. I'll see you guys later.