3 takeaways from Raiders’ preseason loss to Vikings — PHOTOS
MINNEAPOLIS — Gardner Minshew and Aidan O’Connell combined to lead four first-half scoring drives in the Raiders’ preseason opener Saturday, but Will Reichard’s 37-yard field goal as time expired gave the Vikings a 24-23 win.
The Raiders led for most of the game after building a 20-7 halftime edge, but some secondary breakdowns in the third quarter led to a pair of touchdown throws by rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy, the No. 10 overall selection in the draft, to give the Vikings a 21-20 lead.
A fourth-quarter field goal from Daniel Carlson put the Raiders back up 23-21, but the offense could not put the game away with a late drive and had to punt it back to the Vikings with 1:31 remaining, just enough time to set up Reichard’s game-winner.
The Raiders next host the Cowboys at 7 p.m. Aug. 17.
Here are three takeaways from the game:
1. The quarterback battle
O’Connell and Minshew entered the preseason opener in a dead heat for the starting quarterback job. Both got one full quarter of work and played well while leading the Raiders to two touchdowns and two field goals on four of their five first-half possessions.
“Four possessions led to points on the board for the Raiders. That was a positive,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said. “There’s a lot of things we can obviously learn from. Like to see a little better in the running game for us, of course. But I thought the quarterbacks responded well.”
O’Connell’s one drive covered 83 yards on 15 plays over 7:32. Among the highlights were throws of 24 and 13 yards to Jakobi Meyers and a 16-yard throw to rookie tight end Brock Bowers.
The drive stalled at the 3-yard line when O’Connell was dropped for a 10-yard sack. Carlson came on for a 31-yard field goal to put the Raiders up 3-0.
That was it for O’Connell after the first quarter ended during the Vikings’ next drive.
“A great drive” is how he described his short appearance.
“Would have liked to have ended with a touchdown, but to move down the field with a few third-down conversions was great,” he said.
Minshew came on after Jack Jones picked off McCarthy to set the Raiders up at their 33-yard line and quickly led a touchdown drive.
The highlights were a 29-yard throw to Tre Tucker, a 7-yard scramble on third down to pick up a first down and his 20-yard touchdown throw to DJ Turner to put the Raiders up 10-0.
“Did some different things, running it, play action, throwing it on dropback,” Minshew said. “It was awesome to see guys step up and make big plays. A lot of good stuff out there.”
On his next drive, Minshew got the Raiders out of a third-and-11 hole with a 44-yard throw to Tucker, who finished with two catches for 73 yards. On another third down, Minshew found Cole Fotheringham for 11 yards to the Vikings’ 16.
Zamir White capped the drive off with a 2-yard touchdown run to put the Raiders up 17-7.
Minshew’s last drive, which began at the Vikings’ 40-yard line after the Raiders blocked a field goal, covered just two yards and resulted in Carlson’s 56-yard field goal to make it 20-7.
Minshew credited the last week of training camp for helping the offense get back on track.
“Really defining what we are and kind of putting that together,” he said. “It was awesome to go test that out on a different stage. I look forward to kind of continuing on that and building what we expect to be Raider football.”
2. Defense looks raggedy
The Raiders’ defense, which dominated long stretches of training camp, did not have a good first game.
The first-team defense played one drive and gave up 66 yards on 12 plays. The Raiders dug in at the 4-yard line, turning the Vikings away on fourth down when cornerback Jakorian Bennett broke up a pass in the end zone intended for Jalen Nailor.
The Raiders surrendered 103 yards on the ground (239 total) in the first half, including a 48-yard touchdown run by Kene Nwangwu on a simple handoff into the middle of the line of scrimmage.
Things did not improve in the second half. Multiple breakdowns in the secondary enabled McCarthy to shred the Raiders for 111 yards on 5-of-7 passing, all in the third quarter. McCarthy took advantage of a pair of sloppy coverage plays for touchdown throws of 45 and 33 yards.
“We need to do a better job with our rush lanes and doing stuff of that nature,” Pierce said. “The disappointing thing was the running game. We really wanted to establish that and make that team one-dimensional, and I don’t think we did a good enough job tonight.”
3. Young tight ends look good
They only played one drive, but it is clear how big of a role young tight ends Michael Mayer and Brock Bowers will play in the Raiders’ offense.
As expected, new offensive coordinator Luke Getsy utilized 12 personnel (two tight ends) extensively with Bowers and Mayer, and it paid off in the passing game and with each showing promise as blockers in the run game.
Mayer picked up seven yards on his lone reception, while Bowers hauled in two catches for 25 yards. He made a 9-yard catch on third-and-1 at the Vikings’ 16 that began with him lined up at fullback. The Raiders have utilized Bowers all over the field during training camp, including at fullback, where he’s taken handoffs, been a lead blocker or, as he did on Saturday, floated across the line of scrimmage on play action before catching the ball in the flat for a first down.
“A dynamic player that’s doing a good job from a mental standpoint,” Pierce said. “He’s doing everything we’re asking him to do, and he’s not blinking. Not a lot of mental errors. He’s going to be better each and every week.”
Contact Vincent Bonsignore at vbonsignore@reviewjournal.com. Follow @VinnyBonsignore on X.
