Seahawks 21, Raiders 3
SEATTLE -- The Oakland Raiders' offense was stuffed all evening in a 21-3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night at CenturyLink Field.
The Raiders finished the preseason 1-3, and they were nearly shut out for a second time. Oakland's only points came on an Eddy Carmona 31-yard field goal in the final minute.
Quarterback Terrelle Pryor started the second half for Oakland off a dynamic performance last Saturday against Detroit, when he completed three of five passes for 137 yards, including 40- and 74-yard touchdown passes to Juron Criner. Thursday was not a repeat.
His first possession, Pryor handed the ball off twice before completing a swing pass Mike Goodson for minus-5 yards.
He opened his second possession by being sacked, but on third-and-13, Pryor powered free of a sack to complete a 25-yard pass to Eddie McGee. Two plays later, Pryor was called for a delay-of-game penalty, showing the yin and yang of his abilities.
Pryor then scrambled out of bounds on third down to end the possession.
He was sacked again in the fourth quarter, pushing the Raiders back to their own 2-yard line. Goodson didn't get close to the line of scrimmage on third-and-13 since Seattle defensive lineman Jaye Howard burst through the line for a safety with 8:14 left to put the Seahawks in front 21-0.
Tight end Cooper Helfet scored a 4-yard touchdown with 4:29 left in the third quarter to give Seattle a commanding 19-0 lead. Raiders lineman Dominique Hamilton blocked the extra-point attempt.
Carson Palmer played the Raiders' opening series and did not throw a pass. Oakland ran the ball six consecutive times, producing only a big gain of 15 yards by Taiwan Jones on third-and-12, prior to punting. That was it for Palmer.
Matt Leinart replaced him with a stumbling start. The backup was 1-for-5 in the first quarter, then was picked off early in the second when his high pass to Brandon Carswell was tipped and intercepted by cornerback Jeremy Lane. Leinart finished the half with a passer rating of 1.7 after going 3-for-11 for 14 yards.
The Seahawks used a five-play, 28-yard drive following the turnover to go up 6-0 when Steven Hauschka hit a 29-yard field with 9:36 remaining. Hauschka hit from 25 yards with 1:09 to go in the first quarter to open the scoring.
Backup running back Vai Taua scored from 2 yards out to vault Seattle in front 13-0 with 1:11 left in the second quarter. Taua ran for 48 yards in the first half, part of a Seahawks running attack the Raiders could not slow. Seattle rushed for 76 yards on 18 carries against mostly backups for Oakland.
The Raiders had 23 net yards in the first quarter without star back Darren McFadden on the field. Plus, Leinart was ineffective throughout the half. He threw high to Carswell for the interception and behind tight end Richard Gordon, narrowly avoiding another interception.
The first half was a grind thanks to numerous reviews and challenges. Raiders punt returner Roscoe Parrish muffed a punt, which the Seahawks nearly recovered. Seattle coach Pete Carroll challenged the ruling, his second of the half, but the call stood.
Parrish was lucky since he took a careening path to the punt while waving emphatically for a fair catch. He dived, and the punt clanked off his hands near the sideline. The Seahawks were just a touch late to recover it before it went out of bounds.
Parrish also fumbled a punt late in the first, which Seattle recovered. The ball was ripped away from Parrish when he entered traffic on the return.
Oakland finished the half with 49 net yards.
