Oakland Raiders Preseason: 3 Takeaways vs Rams

The Oakland Raiders played their second game of the preseason Saturday night against the L.A. Rams. Here are three takeaways from the game.

Despite being the second game the Oakland Raiders have played during this preseason, Saturday felt like the first real look we have had of this Raiders team. Week 1 of the preseason was marked for the Raiders by the number of starters that did not get an opportunity to play, including franchise quarterback Derek Carr.

However, things changed this week as the first-team offense — Carr, Marshawn Lynch, Amari Cooper and more all included — took the field. Thus, there was a bit more to take into account after Saturday’s action with the Rams.

After the matchup with their Californian foes, here are the three biggest takeaways for the silver and black.

3. Oakland’s Backup QB Battle Continues

Oakland’s backup quarterback battle appears to not be over just yet. Many assumed that former Buffalo Bills quarterback E.J. Manuel had beaten out Connor Cook for the job after the first game of the preseason. Manuel has consistently looked better than Cook throughout training camp and the Raiders listed Manuel ahead of Cook on their first depth chart release last week. In the first preseason game, Manuel continued to look sharp, going 10-for-12 for 107. To compare, Cook went 10-for-21 for 82 yards in the same game. It seemed that Manuel had locked up the backup spot.

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Against the Rams, however, things changed. Manuel, who has looked strong since the start of training camp, looked terrible as he went 3-for-9 and gained only 16 yards passing. Cook saw his opportunity and rose to it. Cook, who only played the final quarter of the game, went 9-of-15, throwing for 83 yards and a touchdown.

Usually we see starters play for the majority of the game during Week 3 of the preseason, so Cook and Manuel should both be limited in their opportunities next week. It seems likely that fans will have to wait until the final week of preseason to actually get an answer on who the backup quarterback will be for Week 1. The competition is good news for Raiders fans as the team has two talented backups fighting behind franchise quarterback Derek Carr, who missed Week 17 and Oakland’s Wild Card game with a broken fibula last season.