Whatever excitement that may have been created by the Raiders in their first preseason game last week was not there for an encore performance in Week two.
The Raiders fielded nearly all of their healthy starters on both sides of the ball. The only players absent unexpetedly were wide receiver Davante Adams and tight end Brock Bowers.
Meanwhile the Cowboys fielded all reserves from the start. And yet the Raiders couldn’t find the end zone in the first half and never led in the game.
Gardner Minshew got the start this time at quarterback and played well into the second quarter before giving way to Aidan O’Connell who played well into the second half.
Over five drives with Minshew at the helm, the Raiders offense managed just one field goal. That score came on a stalled drive after a 48-yard connection with WR Tre Tucker on a deep ball. It was the second week in a row Minshew and Tucker connected on a deep ball. Last week it was a 44 yard bomb
The other drives yielded two punts and two failed fourth down conversion attempts for turnovers on downs.
A huge punt return by Tucker (there’s that man again) in the second quarter would put the Raiders in field goal range and Daniel Carlson put the Raiders up 6-3.
With Trey Lance in at QB for the Cowboys, going against mostly first team defenders for the Raiders — only the starting defensive line had been pulled — the Cowboys marched down the field for the touchdown to take a 10-6 lead. And a Brandon Aubrey 66-yard field goal in the final seconds gave the Cowboys a 13-6 lead at the half.
The third quarter was a rollercoaster for Aidan O’Connell. He drove the Raiders for their first touchdown of the game on a short pass for Harrison Bryant to bring it to a one-point game. The Raiders went for two and O’Connell threw from a backpedal to no one and the score remained a 13-12 Dallas lead.
The Cowboys didn’t respond, so the Raiders had.a chance to take the lead. Instead, O’Connell was intercepted and it was returned for a touchdown to make it a 20-12 Cowboys lead early in the fourth quarter.
That would be O’Connell’s last play in the game as he was replaced at QB by Carter Bradley.
Unlike the preseason opener, Bradley was actually allowed to put the ball in the air. And he completed his first six passes . But consecutive incompletions and the Raiders had to punt.
Once again, the Cowboys marched down the field, again led by Trey Lance, going 98 yards on 13 plays and with Lance finishing it off with keeper for the touchdown. That was the final score of 27-12.
