Oakland Raiders: The good, bad, and ugly in preseason loss to the Rams
By Kevin Saito
Ugly: Backup Quarterback Situation
Just when you thought third-year pro Connor Cook was starting to separate himself from veteran E.J. Manuel in the backup quarterback derby, he goes out and throws up a dud like he did against the Rams.
A week after showing well against the Lions (141 yards on 11/19 passing, and a touchdown), Cook went out and threw up a bit of a stinker, going for 49 yards on 6/12 passing, and taking a sack.
Las Vegas Raiders
Manuel, on the other hand, a week after being less than scintillating, but “okay,” against Detroit (46 yards on 4/6 passing), looked to be the better understudy for Derek Carr against the Rams, throwing for 89 yards on 10/16 passing, with a touchdown – though, he also did take three sacks.
Let’s be clear about something – neither backup quarterback is exactly setting the world on fire. No, backups don’t have to, but you absolutely need to have a competent and capable backup quarterback – both Minnesota and Philadelphia taught us the value of a solid understudy just last season.
Though Manuel was the better of the two against the Rams, that’s almost like winning an ugly contest. Let’s also not forget that Manuel has now lost fumbles in consecutive weeks, which is not something you want to see from your backup quarterback.
Yeah, Cook lost a fumble today too, but he can almost be forgiven, in that by all appearances, the referees on the field blew the call. His arm was clearly in a forward motion, struck one of his linemen, and jarred it loose. The refs blew it – but hey, it’s preseason for them too.
The bigger concern here, is that neither quarterback looks exceptionally capable or competent. Yeah, they have their moments where they look good – but they also have their moments where they look absolutely abysmal.
Unless Gruden and McKenzie pull of a miracle and work out a deal for a different veteran, who might be able to hold it down a bit better, Oakland might have some troubles, and had better hope and pray Carr can make it through the year, whole and intact.