We get it, it’s just the preseason, but c’mon. The Oakland Raiders and Green Bay Packers squared off for the third week of preseason football and there were very little starters to be found. The Packers were planning on letting some starters play, but the whole field debacle happened and they nixed that idea. The Raiders weren’t planning on playing starters, so they didn’t lose much from this game. The final score was Oakland 22, Green Bay 21. Despite the game being a dull affair, there were still some things that could be taken away.
1. Winnipeg Field Disaster Steals the Show
Welp, Canada had its first shot at hosting an NFL game since 2013 and totally blew it. The fact that they didn’t think having big holes in both end zones might be a problem for the teams is perplexing. Fortunately, it was the only really interesting to come from the game. It was truly bizarre to watch professional NFL players play on an 80-yard field and not use kickoffs. All in all, this game was a glorified scrimmage and doesn’t help either team much heading into the season.
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2. Best Reactions to the Field Issue
One thing was clear early on was and that was that fans and sports reporters weren’t super stoked on this game. There were some pretty good reactions to the field issue.
Hard Knocks narrator: The Raiders are used to the black hole in front of their end zone but they aren’t used to an actual hole in the end zone…
Hard Knocks theme plays*
Johnny Townsend would have loved punting on this field. #Raiders.
Gruden isn’t calling plays. Even the coaches are using backups.
The Johnny Townsend diss was pretty vicious due to the fact he was recently cut. With such a boring game, it’s important to try and have fun with.
3. John Morton Calls Plays
Head coach Jon Gruden decided to give up play-calling duties for this game and let John Morton, a senior offensive assistant, handle things. This is Morton’s second stint with the Raiders as he coached during the previous Gruden tenure. He most notably was the offensive coordinator for the New York Jets in 2017. Journeyman quarterback, Josh McCown, had one of his best years while being coached by Morton. It’s hard to tell how he did due to the fact that he didn’t have any of the top talents to call plays for, but it’s nice to see Gruden giving his assistants a chance to have a bigger role.
4. Nathan Peterman Gets the Bulk of the Work
In a move that’s either good news or bad news for Nathan Peterman, he got the vast majority of the quarterback work in this game. It’s probably bad news for him considering the team would want to keep him safe if they thought he’d be backing up Derek Carr. Peterman looked like he might get the edge over Mike Glennon after the first preseason game as he outplayed the veteran. However, Glennon played very well against the Arizona Cardinals in the second preseason game. He got the starting nod against the Packers, so that means he should still have the edge.
That being said, Peterman played really well against Green Bay. He had much better stats than Glennon, who finished the game 4/9 with 38 yards and no touchdowns. Peterman also had more time to put up stats. Glennon will likely be the backup to Carr when the season starts, but Peterman has made the case that the team should keep three quarterbacks on the final roster. He finished the day by completing 22 of 36 passes, 231 passing yard and 2 touchdowns. Not bad at all.
5. Nick Nelson Has a Catastrophic Day
16-yard TD for #16!
Oh man, Nick Nelson got fleeced in this game. He may have sealed his ticket out of Oakland with this performance. He was picked on consistently by the Packers’ backup quarterbacks. He gave up a touchdown and had a bad pass interference infraction. He was already going to have a hard time making the roster after the team drafted two cornerbacks and added LaMarcus Joyner in the offseason. Performances like these definitely don’t help what little chances he had. He did help himself a bit with an interception on the last play of the game.
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5 Takeaways From Raiders vs. Packers: Nathan Peterman Dominates