Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 8, 2013
The Raiders kicked off their regular season as they took on Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts in Indianapolis. Oakland got off to a slow start but was almost able to pull off the victory but their game-winning drive fell just short and the Raiders fell 21-17 Sunday. Down 21-17, Raiders starting quarterback Terrelle Pryor had 5:20 seconds to try and drive his team back down the field 80 yards and get his team the late lead. Facing a 4th and 9, Pryor was able to find wide receiver Denarius Moore for a 21-yard gain and the first down. Then the team hit a speed bump. Down on the Colts eight-yard line with a first and goal, Pryor tried to get away from the Colts defensive line but was unfortunately sacked for a 16-yard loss. After an incompletion to tight end Mychal Rivera, Pryor tried to find Rod Streater in the end zone but was intercepted by Colts safety Antoine Bethea. With just 25 seconds remaining, Luck was able to take a knee twice to end the game. The game looked like it may turn into an ugly contest for the Raiders as Luck was able to drive down the field for touchdowns on his first two drives of the game, putting the Colts up 14-0 early. But then the Raiders defense was able to settle down and get some stops, allowing the Raiders to crawl back into the game. Raiders head coach Dennis Allen attributes the defensive improvement to getting Luck in less-than-desirable situations. "I think eventually we got him in a little bit of a third-and-longer situations and we were able to get a little bit of pressure on him and I think that's the key, but with all good quarterbacks, you got to be on your game on every single play and we got to do a better job," Allen said of his defense playing Luck. It actually looked like the Raiders would get on the scoreboard first with Pryor driving the team down the field on the first drive. Ultimately though, Pryor was unable to put the team on the board as he threw a costly interception in the end zone. Pryor put the ball in the air late and Colts cornerback Greg Toler was able to beat Rod Streater for the ball and record the interception. Luck and the Colts offense clicked right away as the second-year quarterback drove his team down the field with a 10-play drive that was capped off with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Reggie Wayne. Cornerback Tracy Porter was in coverage. Luck was able to pick on Porter with great success in the first half, with Wayne hauling in six receptions for 72 yards and one touchdown in the first half alone. Oakland was able to take their first lead of the game when Pryor found wide receiver Denarius Moore on a quick slant for the touchdown from just five yards out, putting the Raiders up 17-14 in the fourth quarter. But the lead didn't last long. As Luck has become accustomed to doing, the young quarterback drove his team back down the field to retake the lead. With a chance to hold the Colts to just a field goal and a tie ball game, the defense opened up and allowed Luck to rush into the end zone from 19 yards out. A key piece of the play was former Raiders wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey blocking cornerback D.J. Hayden, allowing Luck to get all the way into the end zone. The touchdown gave the Colts the late 21-17 lead that proved to be enough for the victory. The game may have also played out differently if Sebastian Janikowski didn't miss a 48-yard field goal late in the first half. The miss made the team need a touchdown on their final drive to win the game instead of only a field goal. Janikowski didn't miss an attempt from within 50 yards all of last year. The good news for the Raiders is that they were able to apply pressure on the opposing quarterback, something of which was a concern heading into the season. The defense was able to record four sacks on Luck. Despite not being able to get into the end zone for the win at the end, Pryor had a solid game in only his second-career start in a NFL regular-season game. Pryor finished 19/29 for 217 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. He also added 112 rushing yards on 13 attempts. Allen took note of his new starting quarterback's game and thought he saw some good things but also knows there's work to be done. "Well, I think you can see that he provides a spark and has some things he can do and create with his feet. I think that was outstanding," Allen said. "I think overall I was pleased with his performance. There's still a lot of things that we got to get cleaned up with him and that's what, anytime you have a young guy, you're going to have to make some corrections and you're going to have some things that get cleaned up. That's what we got to continue to work for and continue to improve." Pryor, on the other hand, had a different view of how he performed today. "I did awful. Two interceptions; could've won the game, had them on the ropes down there. That's all that matters.... That number in the win column is all that matters to me. It's not about me. It doesn't matter how I play, I just want to do well for the team." Pryor even went on to say that this loss was on his shoulders, saying "this one's on me." Though his team lost the game, Allen is confident in his team and still believes he has a solid team under him. "I think this team, I like this team and I've said that from the very beginning," Allen said. "I like their mindset, I like the way they were able to battle back from being 14 down in the first quarter and there's still a lot of things we got to get cleaned up. That's where we've got to improve. The mindset's there, the execution is what we've got to continue to improve." Pryor and the team will look to bounce back as they return home for their home-opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars next Sunday.
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Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 4, 2013 We all know that Terrelle Pryor has been named the starting quarterback for the Oakland Raiders by now, unless of course you're oblivious to what has been going on. But how did Pryor get to his current situation? It wasn't always an easy path, but Pryor kept his mind set on his goals and was finally able to reach one of them as head coach Dennis Allen named him the starting quarterback this week. Pryor used his athleticism in high school to become a standout in not only football, but also basketball while attending Jeannette High School in Pennsylvania. There, Pryor led his football team to a 16-0 record and led both the football and basketball teams to the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League and Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association titles, a first for the state of Pennsylvania. He was also the first high school football player in Pennsylvania history to rush for over 4,000 yards while also throwing for over 4,000 yards in his high school career. Pryor's high school accolades earned him the title as one of the top recruits in the nation. ESPNU had him ranked the number-four overall recruit in the nation in 2008, the highest-ranked quarterback that year. Pryor elected to attend Ohio State University where he found similar success to high school. There, Pryor led the Buckeyes to a 37-4 record while completing roughly 60 percent of his passes and throwing 57 career touchdowns, tied for the most in Ohio St. history. But Pryor's college tenure came to an abrupt end towards after his junior season when him and four other Buckeye players were caught up in the infamous "tattoo scandal" in which Pryor received improper benefits from the owner of a tattoo parlor in exchange for championship rings, awards and other memorabilia. As a result, the NCAA decided to suspend Pryor for the first five games of his senior season. With the suspension looming, Pryor made the decision to withdraw from Ohio State University in June of 2011. The University then mandated a five-year ban of the young quarterback, prohibiting from him having any contact with Ohio State's athletic program, a move that helped make him eligible for the NFL's supplemental draft. The NFL's Supplemental Draft serves as a way for players to enter the draft if they missed the deadline to declare for the NFL's spring draft, allowing them to get back into football if they may have become ruled ineligible for the upcoming NCAA season for some reason. Pryor declared for the 2011 Supplemental Draft and held his Pro Day in August of 2011, with personnel from 17 NFL teams in attendance. On August 22, 2011, late iconic owner and general manager Al Davis made what would be his last draft pick before he passed away: quarterback from Ohio State, Terrelle Pryor. Davis made the selection with a third-round pick. Pryor fit the mold of a classic pick by Davis: big, athletic, fast, strong arm, and a player looking for a second chance to get back on the football field and just play the game he loves. The NFL decided to mandate a suspension of it's own by enforcing the NCAA's five-game suspension of Pryor, keeping the young quarterback suspended until week six of the 2011 season. Pryor's only appearance on the field for the Raiders that season was for just one play in which he lined up as a wide receiver and came in motion to take the snap on a quarterback-sneak attempt. The play was eventually nullified by a false start penalty. Entering his first full-offseason with the Raiders, Pryor had to battle personal tragedies as he saw two of his biggest supporters pass away just days apart: life-long mentor Ted Serniak III (July 20) and his father Craig (July 26). With Carson Palmer holding the starting quarterback position, Pryor didn't see any game action until Dec. 26 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Pryor received one series in the second quarter and handed the ball off twice, followed by a third-down incompletion to go three and out. Raiders coaches proceeded to use Pryor's athleticism for some trickery the next week against the Panthers as the athletic quarterback took a snap and threw it out wide to Palmer who then found Pryor streaking down the field for a 22-yard reception by the versatile athlete. With Palmer out due to an injury, Pryor received the nod for his first career NFL start during the 2012 season finale against the San Diego Chargers. Pryor showed his athleticism and ability to move the offense but still struggled to find a groove throwing the ball, finishing 13-28 for 150 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. However, he did use his athleticism to add nine rushes for 49 yards and one rushing touchdown. Pryor almost brought the team back for a come-from-behind victory over the Chargers as he found wide receiver Denarius Moore to bring the team within to just a field goal. But that was as close as the team would pull as they fell 24-21 in the end. With Palmer gone, Pryor and Flynn entered this offseason with a competition for who would win the starting job. Pryor got off to a rough start during OTA's but made great improvement between then and the beginning of training camp in the end of July. Pryor struggled with his throwing motion during OTA's and mini-camp but was able to find a new throwing motion and improve greatly heading into training camp. Pryor, who's hard work has never been questioned, spent much of the offseason working with former major-league pitcher Tom House, a widely-regarded throwing expert that also works with Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. "I never really knew how to throw a football before. It's coming along. I'm getting way better," Pryor said on his improvement during training camp. "They've got me going in the right direction to be a pretty good quarterback who knows how to throw the ball." With this new throwing motion, Pryor has been able to reduce the amount of "wobble" on his ball and get it out with more of a spiral. Though he finished just 17/32 throwing throughout preseason, the improvements have shown especially on the shorter throws that he previously struggled with. Pryor has also been a victim of numerous drops by his receivers during preseason. With such an injured offensive line, Pryor has used his athleticism and turned it into a positive for the Raiders, rushing the ball 14 times for 131 yards. One memorable rush occurred during the team's final preseason matchup against the Seattle Seahawks when Pryor scrambled right and eluded the safety with a nice move to scamper for the first down and 22 yards. Pryor's ability to learn from his mistakes has been one of his most beneficial attributes this offseason. After making a mistake, he has shown the professionalism to take it in as a data point but not let it effect his play on the field. During the first preseason game, Pryor got greedy and tried to throw a ball into triple coverage in the end zone instead of just tucking it and trying to reach the first down. The ball was intercepted and a scoring chance was thrown down the drain. But much to the pleasure of the coaching staff, Pryor was able to learn from it and didn't make the mistake the next drive as he threw the ball away instead of forcing it in there. “At the end of the day, God has given me a chance to play this game and he’s given me an opportunity to learn, and I learned right there,” Pryor said of his interception on the first drive. “As long as you can take one or two things out, and I learned one thing for sure, don’t turn the ball over there, don’t force anything and don’t be greedy. I’ll never do that again and that will never happen to me again.” Pryor really put in a bid for the starting position during the Raiders week three preseason game against the Chicago Bears. After Flynn struggled to move the ball downfield and throwing a couple of interceptions, Pryor came in and completed 7 of 9 pass attempts for 93 yards, and also accumulated 37 rushing yards and a touchdown on the ground. Head coach Dennis Allen certainly took note of the spark provided by his young quarterback. “I think obviously we have to take a look at it. I think when you look at it I don’t think Matt played well in this game. Obviously, I thought Terrelle came in and gave us a spark. I thought he played well in the game," Allen said of his quarterbacks following the game. "I think that’s something that we have to go and look at it. I’m not going to make any decision on anything, obviously, tonight. I want to get a chance to go back and look at the tape and see how things went. But it was obvious that Terrelle gave us a little bit of spark tonight.” Pryor finished the preseason 17/32 throwing the ball with one touchdown and two interceptions, along with 131 rushing yards and one rushing touchdown. Pryor appears to be starting the next chapter of his life, the chapter in which he is the starting quarterback of the Oakland Raiders. Now the question is how long will this chapter be, and how will it end? It will be interesting to see how it pans out. Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 1, 2013
Just a day after roster cuts to get the team down to 53 players, punter Chris Kluwe appears to have been let go by the Raiders on Sunday. Kluwe tweeted on Sunday a couple of goodbye messages to the organization along with praise for his competition, Marquette King. Thanks to everyone at the Raiders for the opportunity this preseason. It was a blast. @MarquetteKing's got a bright future with you guys! — Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) September 1, 2013 Kluwe also went on to state that he felt he gave it his all during the offseason with the Raiders. Feel like we both had a pretty strong preseason. No regrets. — Chris Kluwe (@ChrisWarcraft) September 1, 2013 Kluwe averaged 48.3 yards per punt during the preseason, while King averaged 54.3 yards per punt. Both punters had an equal number of punts with six attempts in preseason. With the decision to go with King, the Raiders also get a younger punter with possibly greater potential. King took to twitter as well and showed his appreciation for Kluwe: Had a great expirence with @ChrisWarcraft this preseason we got each other better. It was an honor bro. #KickSquad — Marquette King (@MarquetteKing) August 30, 2013 Originally published on Silver & Black Report on Sept. 1, 2013
Just over four months after selecting him in the fourth round of the 2013 NFL Draft, Raiders general manager Reggie McKenzie has decided to waive quarterback Tyler Wilson, according to multiple reports. The former University of Arkansas quarterback was believed to be someone the Raiders could groom to potentially battle for the starting job. But after a fairly solid offseason at OTAs and mini-camp, Wilson struggled in training camp and preseason while seeing his reps cut into mightily by undrafted rookie Matt McGloin. Wilson saw two series in the preseason opener, but didn't see anymore preseason action until the final quarter of the preseason finale. McGloin was receiving third-string reps behind Matt Flynn and Terrelle Pryor. On numerous occasions during training camp, Wilson would often go an entire 11-on-11 drill without receiving a rep. The move also gives McGloin the nod as the team'a third-string quarterback. As the 112th overall pick in the draft and a quarterback with solid numbers in a strong conference, Wilson will likely be claimed off waivers rather quickly eliminating the chance for the Raiders to stash him on the practice squad. |
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