The Oakland Raiders are heading into the usually important third preseason game and as things are gearing up for the Bears, head coach Dennis Allen and Reggie McKenzie are looking for improvements after losing the last preseason game.
The team is looking for players to step up for Flynn, including Denarius Moore and Rod Streater. The Oakland Raiders have a new quarterback this season in Matt Flynn, as he was acquired in a trade with the Seattle Seahawks. The team went just 4-12 last season and has been overhauled by general manager Reggie McKenzie and head coach Dennis Allen is expecting some massive improvements from players on the roster next year. The team changed up the secondary by drafting DJ Hayden with their number one pick and also signing Charles Woodson, Tracy Porter and Mike Jenkins to take over a unit that was inconsistent.
Here is some info from last week on the preseason for the Raiders. The NFL preseason schedule hits Week 2 around the league and after a nice slate of games on Thursday night included teams like the Chicago Bears, Philadelphia Eagles, Baltimore Ravens, San Diego Chargers, Atlanta Falcons and Detroit Lions, more games are going down Friday, including the Oakland Raiders taking on the Saints and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers taking on the New England Patriots.
The slate of games on Friday features a number of playoff teams from last season, including the San Francisco 49ers as they take on the Kansas City Chiefs and the Minnesota Vikings taking on the Buffalo Bills. The Patriots are coming off of a win in their first preseason game, as are the Raiders and the Saints, though obviously someone will have to lose on Friday night. The 49ers and Chiefs game has plenty of intrigue, as the Chiefs have a new quarterback in Alex Smith, who just happened to be the quarterback in San Francisco before Colin Kaepernick took over and set the world on fire.
The Raiders were one of the more active teams in free agency this past offseason, signing Nick Roach and Kevin Burnett at linebacker and they also brought in some new players on offense through the draft. The team took Menelik Watson, Mychal Rivera, Nick Kasa, Latavius Murray, Brice Butler as well as Tyler Wilson in the draft and that group of players could be starring for the Raiders in the years to come. The team needs to get more consistent on both sides of the ball and the new additions on defense should help with that as Dennis Allen tries to get the unit to play with more cohesion.
The running game may end up being the biggest precursor to success for the Raiders, as the team ranked just 28th last year in rushing yards per game and with Darren McFadden coming into a contract year that could be all he needs. The team also signed Rashad Jennings and brought in Murray to help out and the change to a power blocking scheme is supposed to help McFadden, who has rushed for 1,000 yards just once and has never played in more than 13 games in a season. McKenzie is betting big on those players and it remains to be seen if it will pay off.
Oakland dealt with an injury to Darren McFadden and now the Saints are focused on getting their running game in order as well. The team added a number of new players this offseason for the Raiders, including vets Charles Woodson, Kevin Burnett, Nick Roach, Tracy Porter and Flynn. Rookies include DJ Hayden, Sio Moore, Nick Kasa, Latavius Murray, Brice Butler as well as Menelik Watson and Mychal Rivera.