Quick Snap: Raiders defensive line depth on display in win over Packers

Aug 24, 2018 at 10:44 PM

Eddie Paskal

Senior Writer/Editor

If Friday night's game was a dress rehearsal for Week 1, Head Coach Jon Gruden didn't let his best actors even take part in the second act.

After just two offensive series, and just three throws, Derek Carr exited – not quite sure if it was technically stage left or stage right – leaving the rest of the quarterbacking duties to EJ Manuel and Connor Cook, en route to a 13-6 win for the Silver and Black at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum.

And to be fair, you can't really blame Coach Gruden for ending Carr's night – and likely his preseason – after just one series, as No. 4 checked about every box you'd like to see at this juncture, including a **49-yard dart to Amari Cooper** on the first play from scrimmage.

Following his departure, Cook got the first crack at moving the Raiders offense, although, the third-year quarterback had his fair share of issues on the night, completing just six of 15 passes for 72 yards, an interception, and failing to produce any points for the offense.

If we're being fully transparent, things didn't improve all that drastically when Manuel got in the mix. While the former Florida State Seminole did manage to get the Raiders into field goal position, and eventually lead the team downfield for what turned into the game-winning touchdown, he also struggled for much of the evening to find any type of rhythm.

Defensively, a majority of the starters went just a little bit longer than their offensive counterparts – some even played through end of the first half – and while it might not have been the prettiest defensive performance of all time, give Paul Guenther's unit credit, they made life difficult for the Packers.

At the half, the Silver and Black had surrendered just three points, and held Brett Hundley and the Green Bay offense to only 100 total yards.

That solid play continued into the second half, as the Packers scored just three points after halftime.

Additionally, without the services of defensive end Bruce Irvin – who was given an excused absence for the Friday night affair – a pair of young Raiders stepped up and filled the void left by No. 51.

Let's start with the rookie, Arden Key.

The former LSU Tiger – who apparently is built of some type of elastic – put together the best outing of his young career, recording his first NFL sack, while being mere inches away from adding a few more to the total.

Not to be outdone, Fadol Brown made sure he got his name called a bunch Friday night, tallying a sack of his own, and remaining an active force screaming off the edge.

To be fair, for much of the night, the Raiders defensive front as a whole was impressive, making the Packers earn every yard at the OACC.

We harp almost constantly on the importance of depth across the roster, and while it remains to be seen just how much of Key and Brown we'll possibly see in the regular season, it was good to see guys lower on the depth chart get some run.

As I mentioned earlier, with the third preseason game now in the rearview mirror, we likely won't see Derek Carr and the starters – on either side of the football – until the season opener against the Los Angeles Rams on September 10, but regardless, there's still much to accomplish between now and the end of next week.

Coach Gruden and his team will return to the practice field this week, and will then, finally, wrap up the preseason Thursday evening in Seattle against the Seahawks.

Roster reduction day is two days later, September 1.