Seattle Seahawks wide receiver Kenny Lawler (11) celebrates after scoring a touchdown with wide receiver David Moore, rear, during the second half of an NFL preseason football game against the Oakland Raiders in Oakland, Calif., Thursday, Aug. 31, 2017. (AP Photo/Eric Risberg)

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
Sports Radio Service Writer

OAKLAND — With both teams sitting out their star players in the fourth and final preseason game, backup quarterback Austin Davis  connected with former Cal Berkeley wide receiver Kenny Lawler for a 16-yard, go-ahead touchdown pass with 1:12 left in the fourth quarter to give the Seahawks a 17-13 win over the Raiders Thursday night in the preseason finale for both teams.

Seattle finishes 4-0 in the preseason, while Oakland finished 0-4.

Trevone Boykin started the game for Seattle, completing 13-of-21 passes for 166 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions in the first half before Davis took Seattle the rest of the way.

Seattle jumped out to an early 10-0 lead, highlighted by Boykin’s 34-yard touchdown pass to third-year wide receiver Rodney Smith that left Raiders reserve cornerback Dexter McDonald flat on his stomach.

The Seahawks committed more penalties (9 for 122 yards) than Oakland (7 for 60 yards) did in the contest, and lost the time of possession (31:57 to 28:03).

EJ Manuel and Connor Cook rotated series at quarterback for Oakland, and both guys didn’t change their order on the depth chart much.

Manuel got the start tonight, finishing 9-for-14 for 85 yards and a touchdown. Manuel threw a couple of passes that were high to receivers, but engineered the longest drive of the game, a 14-play, 94-yard drive that ended with a 18-yard touchdown toss to backup wide receiver Keon Hatcher for Oakland’s first points of the game and cutting Seattle’s lead, 10-7 shortly before halftime.

Manuel, who was signed by Oakland in the offseason after four seasons in Buffalo, entered training camp as the clear No. 2  quarterback behind Carr, should enter the regular season as the backup when the Raiders open up in Nashville against the Titans on Sept. 10.

Cook showed flashes during the preseason, but didn’t make a strong case to overtake Manuel as he looked shaky in front of Raider Nation at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum tonight, finishing just 8-of-19 for 88 yards and an interception.

Running back George Atkinson rushed for 60 yards on nine carries and had a would-be touchdown run in the third quarter called back due to a holding penalty.

Tonight’s game for Oakland was more about guys who were on the roster bubble looking to impress the coaching staff, than actually winning. Oakland has developed some guys that will be hard to cut from the team when all 32 NFL teams must have their final 53-man roster in concrete on Saturday, Sept. 2.

Wide receiver K.J. Brent, a guy that coaches were high on, had just one catch in three preseason games, recorded four catches for 55 yards on the night.

Rookies in defensive tackle Treyvon Hester and linebacker LaTroy Lewis have to be on the roster, especially for a Raiders’ defense that struggled to get after the quarterback in 2016 with a league-low 25 sacks.

Lewis finished with four tackles and a sack on the night. Lewis’s sack gave him four for to close out the preseason, tied for most in the NFL.

Hester finished second in the preseason with three sacks, creating inside pressures from the defensive line that Oakland has lacked in recent years.