Category: Oakland Raiders

A’s also planned to get cut in in land giveaway for new Coliseum City; Raiders planned to get free land

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by Jerry Feitelberg

OAKLAND–Let the free land give away begin, Oakland Mayor Jean Quan said that the Oakland Raiders would get to develop a new stadium on land that would belong to the Raiders and it would all be for free from the city of Oakland according to Oakland Mayor Quan. The Coliseum would be demolished the cost for the new stadium would run $900 million to $1.2 billion.

The Raiders who said they wanted to blow up the existing Coliseum and build their new stadium at the current site but were turned off when the city offered the Oakland A’s a ten year lease at the Coliseum the supporter’s attorney Zach Wasserman said that the “basic terms of the deal” financially have been worked out amongst the city and the Raiders.

In the event that the A’s are not satisfied with the supporters group land would be offered to the A’s and team owners Lew Wolf and John Fisher. The offer most likely would be that the Raiders and A’s would have seperate stadiums at what city officials would call the “Coliseum City” There would be hotels and restaurants built at the Coliseum City and a whole complex of shopping and the city of Oakland saw the light and at the threat of losing the two teams they realized the economic importance of having the A’s and Raiders in Oakland.

The A’s have not responded to the latest notion that the Raiders would have a new stadium and free land but would be happy if the lease agreement they just signed would be ripped up and that they would receive a new stadium and new FREE land at the Coliseum site. The A’s would have their own park and they won’t be sharing it with the Raiders and won’t have the field marked up like it is today and after a couple of Raiders games if the A’s are still in the playoffs the field won’t be ripped up in a new stadium setting.

The plan is to have the existing Coliseum come down but there is no mention of any plans for the arena to come down and that would be obviously after the Warriors move to San Francisco. There has not been any mention by the powers that be if there is any plans for the arena to ripped down. The plan as of now is that the new stadiums would be built on the existing properties for the A’s and Raiders.

The question is what are they going to do about the parking and they might have to buy some land across fron 880 to accomadate the people for parking. There is still excellent transit that exists that comes right to the stadium for both of them and it should work out. This will be a big boon economically for the construction contractors and the city of Oakland.

It’s no secret the tax payers will be on the hook for the bill for these projects and there is $120 million that has to be paid off for building Mount Davis. It will be absorbed into a new loan, a refinanced package or what the supporters come up with. The Raiders might get some support from the NFL in paying for the stadium. The people in L.A. were looking for some help from the NFL and the NFL should be helping the Raiders in building a new stadium.

Oakland visit New York for Season Opener

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Finally the preseason is over and now the wins and loses will count for each team on their quest to be one of the final two teams to play in Super Bowl XLVIX  in February out in Glendale, AZ  for the Lombardi Trophy.

The Oakland Raiders hope to be one of those two teams, but will need to break an 11-year playoff drought first in order to make that happen which begins Sunday in New York against the Jets in Week 1.

Oakland finished the preseason 2-2, and had glimpses of a quarterback controversy with backups Matt McGloin and Derek Carr playing well at times in place of projected starter, Matt Schaub. Carr will the first rookie quarterback in team history to make his first start in Week 1.

Well there is no quarterback controversy as FOX Sports NFL Insider Jay Glazer reported Monday that Raiders Head Coach Dennis Allen named Carr the starter ahead of Schaub for Sunday’s tilt in the Big Apple.

“Not an indictment on Matt Schaub, Derek Carr is mature beyond his years,” coach Dennis Allen said after Monday’s practice. “We feel very comfortable with him helping us win football games. … Derek is the starting quarterback.”

Schaub, who was battling parts of training camp with elbow tendinitis in his throwing elbow, didn’t play like a starting quarterback in his three starts, throwing for 218 yards, no touchdowns and one interception on 24-of-47 passes. The former Houston Texans quarterback is trying to resurrect his career in Oakland, after a disastrous 2013 season for the 2-14 Texans.

“Matt is disappointed but he has handled it like a pro,” Allen said. “Derek has grown [by] leaps and bounds…He is ready to accept the challenge.”

In three preseason games (missed one due to a rib/concussion injury), Carr finished 30-of-45 for 326 yards passing, four touchdowns and one interception, with a 108.2 QB rating. In his start  against Seattle in the preseason finale at home, Carr looked like a seasoned veteran, taking command of the Raider’s first-team offense on two touchdown drives against the vaunted Sehawks first-team defense.

With the help of what should be a promising running attack with the tandem of Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden, Carr should not feel pressured into trying to win the game on his own. Both MJD and McFadden played sparingly during preseason, and look healthy to shoulder the load on the ground.

Defensively, Oakland made several key free agent acquisitions, most notably with an influx of veteran leadership with the signings of defensive end Justin Tuck, linebacker LaMarr Woodley, and cornerbacks Carlos Rogers and Terrell Brown. Oakland is counting on those guys to help improve an Oakland defense that finished 22nd  in total defense in the league last season.

The Jets, who finished the preseason 2-2, are led by second-year quarterback Geno Smith.

Smith, who started all 16 games last season as a rookie, threw 12 touchdowns and 21 interceptions (fourth-most in the league), but did finish with 3,046 yards passing.

New York is banking on the five-year $36.25 million contract they gave former Denver Broncos wide receiver Eric Decker to help the former West Virginia Mountaineer improve on those numbers, and end a three-year playoff absence for New York.

Second-year defensive tackle Sheldon Richardson is the force behind a vastly improved Jets 3-4 defense that ranked 11th in total defense in 2013.

Richardson is the key to the Jets defense, enabling defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson to get after the quarterback.

Wilkerson finished with a career-high 10.5 sacks last year and could make Carr’s first career regular season start a tough one as Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan loves to blitz and give multiple defensive looks to opposing quarterbacks.

If Carr continues to grow and show the confidence that he’s exhibited during the preseason and play mistake-free football, Oakland has a great chance of leaving New York with a win.

 

 

 

 

 

49ers and Raiders commentary: Without Smith Niners are without best pass rusher in NFL;Will Raiders start rookie Carr?

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by David Zizmor

SANTA CLARA–The San Francisco 49ers will start the 2014 season without the best pass rusher in football linebacker Aldon Smith who started his nine game suspension this weekend. Smith will be allowed to attend meetings and workouts at the 49ers facilities but will not be able to play until November 10th one week before the Niners play the New York Giants on Sunday November 16th.

The impact of not having Smith around will effect the 49ers defensive line and there is no way you could replace a guy like Smith. Smith has more sacks than everybody in the league. Even his first three seasons he’s had more sacks than everybody in the NFL. There is really no way to get around it you just can’t replace a guy like Smith. The 49ers have been preparing for injuries and depatures on their defensive squad for several years now.

They keep drafting guys on their defensive line who will replace guys who will depart and if you look across from their defensive line they have several older players like Justin Smith, being the key player, Justin has been the key player for many, many years and arguably a Hall of Fame level player. Justin is in his mid thirties and his contract is coming up in a year or so.

The 49ers will look at linebackers Tank Carradine and Quintin Dial these are going to be guys who are hopefully going to step up and provide a little bit of breathing room for the 49ers and for those individual players. Aldon will be out and the 49ers have a lot of guys along these lines who can practice hard and play hard, work hard and we’ll see how they do in replacing a guy like Aldon.

Oakland Raiders update: Raiders quarterback David Carr had a very good pre season and there’s a very strong case to be made. Right now he’s already the best quarterback for the Raiders. The problem is that he’s a rookie and he was never with the first team against first team defenses. In that fourth game they never played against first team defensive units.

Even though Carr was the starter with the first group to be out there he never played against the number one defense. Carr looked good in that game against Seattle and that Seattle defense you saw them in the Super Bowl. There were a couple of starters here and there and the rest were a couple of guys who were going to be third stringers.

There is a case to be made that Carr is already a better option rather than quarterback Matt Schaub but again he’s a rookie. He hasn’t faced the top competition. He’s played a lot different in pre season than regular season. When you have a rookie and Carr who has a bright future he’s going to end up starting at some point this season because it’s doubtful that Schaub is going to be very good.

The Raiders haven’t seen anything that’s been very good from Schaub in the pre season, he didn’t look good with Houston last year. He’s had three bad pre season games and he’s out for personal reasons as of this weekend. There’s no reason to believe that he’s all of sudden going to snap out of it soon and transform into the guy he was three or four years ago.

David Zizmor does 49ers and Raiders commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

A’s and Giants commentary: Giants Fans anticipating Mad Bum’s next outing; A’s counting on O’Flaherty out of the pen

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by Michael Duca

SAN FRANCISCO–Giants starter Madison Baumgarner who nearly tossed himself a perfect game on Tuesday night had all his stuff working for him and if you look at the first inning of that game you would never in a million years have predicted that he was going to be working on a no hitter in the seventh or eighth innings. They teed off on him in the first inning Gregor Blanco had to pull a ball back in that was going to go over the fence and there was another ball that was absolutely scalded in that inning.

That first inning the Colorado Rockies were roping the ball and it didn’t even look like he was going to last three innings then all of a sudden the Rockies remembered who they were and Baumgarner remembered who he was and he 15 0-2 counts and three three ball counts. Everybody says the best pitch in baseball is strike one but I beg to differ with them I say it’s strike two.

Strike two always makes the hitter defensive and he had them in a defensive posture most of the night. That’s not a comfortable way to hit against a guy who drops down, who comes side arm, who hides the ball well, doesn’t show you his release point, those were rough at bats. Baumgarner’s performance was not too surprising for example my son who is a full grown adult and a Seattle Mariners fan texted me after Tim Lincecum’s last no hitter and he said “Mad Bum’s turn next” he was almost pretty passioned there.

For manager Bruce Bochy and thoughts of getting in a good position in the National League West things are different now than a few years ago but my recollection is right, about this point in August of 2010 the Giants were five games back of the San Diego Padres and then there was the miracle comeback when the team put together a over ten game win streak to catch the Padres in September. Not by way of predicting that’s going to happen again there’s still a lot of baseball left ask the 2010 Red Sox or the 2010 Braves how rapidly you can collapse in the month of September.

Giant starter Yumeiro Petit: He’s a strike thrower that’s what I like about his game as a pitcher he’ll go out and challenge guys in a strike zone he’ll say “here it comes hit it” it’s tough to have a better performance than he did for the resmumption for the suspended game in Chicago. Petit struck out six batters, he struck out the first five and another ball was hit right back to him. Someone said it was like watching Eddie Feigner in his King and the Court days.

Oakland A’s update: The race in the American Leauge West is turning into a war of attrition, don’t discount the Seattle Mariners because they are playing the best baseball in the American Leauge right now along with the Kansas City Royals and the M’s are not that much further out right now than the Giants so to consider the Giants to be in the race you have to consider the Mariners to reach for the division title.

On the other hand the A’s have suffered some injuries that have given them some grief and the Angels have lost Garrett Richards who’s their best pitcher. The first guy the Angels brought up to fill that spot was Wade LaBlance but that assignment didn’t work out too well. That puts a real hitch in your giddy up when you lose your lead horse.

The four games with the Angels in Anaheim which started on Thursday night are most likely going to be split. A’s manager Bob Melvin is going to rely on one of his pitchers for the missing Sean Doolittle out with an injury for the next two weeks and that’s Eric O’Flaherty. O’Flaherty is probably going to get the bulk if not all the save opportunities.

O’Flaherty regularly throws 96-97 MPH and is just one of those kind of insurance policies of the future that General Manager Billy Beane likes to go out and purchase. He picked up O’Flaherty and signed him to a contract when he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery and got him at a bargain rate because he was going to be able to play at half a season.

Michael Duca does A’s and Giants commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Raiders host Seahawks in preseason finale

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — As the NFL preseason draws to a close, the Raiders will host Oakland native Marshawn Lynch and the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks at O.co Coliseum Thursday night as both teams look to finish off strong before the games start to really count.

Oakland is coming off their third preseason game, losing to the Packers, 31-21, in Green Bay last week. The Raiders first-team defense played strong early, forcing the Packers into back-to-back three-and-out drives and three straight punts in the first  quarter. Rookie linebacker Khalil Mack was active all over the field, collecting five tackles and an interception.

Linebackers Miles Burris and Nick Roach each finished with six tackles, while defensive end LaMarr Woodley recorded his first sack as a Raider.

Offensively, Oakland’s first-team showed progress, after running back Maurice Jones-Drew stormed for a 40-yard touchdown run on the Raiders’ first possession to tie the game at 7-7, after Eddie Lacy’s 1-yard run on Green Bay’s first possession.

Quarterback Matt McGloin, who has made a strong case to be the Raiders’ No. 2 quarterback, finished 10-of-17 for 162 yards passing, and two touchdowns, both to wide receiver, Bryce Butler. Butler added three catches for 60 yards receiving.

Even with McGloin’s impressive play, rookie quarterback Derek Carr is slated to start Thursday. Carr sat out the Green Bay game to rest his bruised ribs he suffered in Oakland’s second preseason game.

Seattle showed why many experts believe that they can repeat as Super Bowl champions with another dominating performance, dropping the Chicago Bears, 34-6 at home.

Quarterback Russell Wilson looked in midseason form, scoring three touchdowns (2 passing, 1 rushing) while passing for 202 yards on 15-of-20 passes. Wilson also had a robust 140.o quarterback rating.

Lynch, who held out the early part of training camp after being unhappy with his contract, had three carries for 16 yards, including a 7-yard touchdown run on the Seahawks’ opening drive of the game. Lynch would watch the remainder on the game from the sidelines, tossing the cleats for some basketball shoes.

Even the Seahawks’ punishing defense appears to be ready for another run at the Lombardi trophy, having surrender only 20 points in three preseason games.

Oakland will also see a familiar face Thursday, with Terrelle Pryor returning to the Black Hole. It will be a good test for the Raiders’ defense who haven’t faced a quarterback with the frame and elusiveness quite like Pryor.

Both teams will see each other during the regular season, when the Silver and Black travel to CenturyLink Field for a Week 9 match-up.

With all 32 teams having to reduce their rosters down to 53 players by Saturday, August 30, it will be a busy week in Oakland. The Raiders have 10 open positions on the practice squad to fill as well.

After Thursday night’s game, the Seahawks will open up their title defense on Sept. 4 when they will host the Green Bay Packers, while Oakland will begin the season on the road when they will travel 3,000 miles to New York and face the Jets on Sept. 7.

You can watch the game on KTVU/FOX 2, or listen on 98.5 KFOX.

49ers and Raiders commentary:Levis sod squad does quick repairs true test is on Sunday;Raiders taking serious look at corners this week

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by David Zizmor

SANTA CLARA–The landscape issue at Levis Stadium for Sunday’s game replanting of the sod is more of a gardening issue than a game day issue. The bottom line is you want the turf to be as perfect as possible but you don’t want it to come up in chunks and there some value on how you can cut back and forth when your a player running your routes.

You don’t want any inuries so it’s good for the 49ers now as their taking action, it’s hopeful that the field will be nice and ready for the exhibition game against the Chargers on Sunday. It certainly should be open for the home opener for the regular season on September 14th in about three weeks. They have the best people in to fix the problem, it’s grass it’ll grow they’ll just have to tend to it and hope they don’t make the same mistake twice.

One thing that head coach Jim Harbaugh doesn’t want is to worry about is things like this when he’s got a game to prepare for and the field certainly qualifies. He shouldn’t have to think about the field at all that should be something that you don’t worry about in any way shape or form. In this game coming up against the San Diego Chargers they have to look like their ready.

The first two games of the pre season they looked out of sync, like they were going through the motions sometimes it’s tough to really get motivated in pre sesaon especially when there’s several injuries on the team. The 49ers have hardly scored at all this pre season and they got blanked last week by the Denver Broncos 34-0. The lost in week one of the pre season to the Baltimore Ravens 23-3.

Oakland Raiders update: The cornerback situation for the Raiders is shakey, Tarrell Brown is not a bad corner so there’s a question of what the problem is, it might just be that Brown is trying to get used to a new defense it’s always something to keep in mind. Just because your a decent cornerback in one place doesn’t mean moving to a different team your going to carry that along.

Brown used to play for the 49ers and was decent but he also had a lot of good players around him to help out. Sometimes if you have the supporting cast that makes you look even better. Brown moves to Oakland and that’s a very young and inexperienced defense and Brown is suppose to be proping everyone else up. Maybe he’s not quite as good without those supporting players.

We saw this with former Raider Nnamdi Asomugha who looked great with the Raiders, he was an All-Pro, a Pro Bowler each and every year and the he goes over to the Philadelphia Eagles with a comepletly different defensive system and Asomugha just couldn’t cut it. He completely fell off the planet and now he’s pretty much out of football.

That’s part of the problem with the Raiders corners and here again, this is a very inexperienced defense. LaMarr Woodley and Justin Tuck two free agents who signed are guys who are talented but their past defined. They can give a little confidence and they can relay sone of their experiences to the younger guys but but their not exactly at the top of their game either.

David Zizmor does commentary on the Raiders and 49ers each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Packers drop Raiders

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GREEN BAY, WI - AUGUST 22: Maurice Jones Drew #21 of the Oakland Raiders runs past AJ Hawk #50 of the Green Bay Packers for a first quarter touchdown run during a preseason game at Lambeau Field on August 22, 2014 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Konstantaras/Getty Images)
GREEN BAY, WI – AUGUST 22: Maurice Jones Drew #21 of the Oakland Raiders runs past AJ Hawk #50 of the Green Bay Packers for a first quarter touchdown run during a preseason game at Lambeau Field on August 22, 2014 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by John Konstantaras/Getty Images)

By Jeremy Kahn

After an impressive win over the Detroit Lions on August 15 at the Coliseum, the Oakland Raiders could not make it two wins in a row.

Aaron Rodgers threw two touchdowns, while Eddie Lacy scampered in from one-yard out and the Green Bay Packers defeated the Raiders 31-21 at Lambeau Field.

Raiders linebacker Sio Moore was carted off the field with a neck injury in the second quarter. Moore gave a thumbs up sign to the hushed crowd, and the fans gave the linebacker a standing ovation.

Moore was not the only member of the Raiders defense to suffer injuries to their upper extremities, as cornerback Tarell Brown and linebacker Nick Roach each suffered head injuries.

Rodgers went nine-for-20 for 139 yards passing and those two touchdowns, before giving way to former Raiders quarterback Matt Flynn.

Matt Schaub went 13-of-27 for 110 yards passing, as he played all the way into the third quarter.

Matt McGloin, who engineered that comeback against the Lions on August 15, threw two fourth quarter touchdowns to Brice Butler, while McGloin finished the night going 10-for-17 for 162 yards passing.

Following Lacy’s touchdown that put the Packers on board, Maurice Jones-Drew scampered 40 yards to get the Raiders on the board.

That would be the only score by the Raiders until McGloin found Butler with 2:41 remaining in the game.

Following a three-and-out by the Packers, McGloin found Butler in the end zone with 11 seconds remaining.

The Silver and Black Readies for Green Bay

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — After splitting the first two preseason games against the Minnesota Vikings and Detroit Lions, the Oakland Raiders will play their third and final NFC North opponent when they head to Green Bay to take on the Packers Friday night. Friday night’s encounter with the Packers will be a nationally televised game, airing on CBS with JimNantz and Phil Simms in the booth.

The Silver and Black are coming off a dramatic, 27-26, victory at home against the Lions last Friday night.

Matt McGloin engineered a 13-play, 68-yard drive that was punctuated by a 19-yard touchdown strike to wide receiver Brice Butler with just 0:06 remaining. McGloin finished 7-of-15 for 114 yards passing after replacing Derek Carr midway through the fourth quarter, after Carr left the game with what was later diagnosed as a concussion and bruised ribs. Carr did play well before leaving the game, finishing 9-of-16 for 109 yards, including a 3-yard touchdown to tight end Jake Murphy in the third quarter.

Carr passed the standard concussion test as per protocol by the NFL, but won’t play in Friday’s game due to the linger pain in his ribs.

Oakland’s defense got off to a rough start early, finding themselves down 13-0 in the first quarter, but settled down as the game wore on.

One of the team’s key free agent acquisitions in the offseason, cornerback Terrell Brown was burned for a 28-yard touchdown by Detroit’s wide receiver Golden Tate (Detroit’s biggest offseason acquisition).

Linebackers Nick Roach and Khalil Mack each recorded a sack. Mack also finished with two tackles, and appeared more active on the field as he transitions to the speed of the NFL.

Green Bay went into St. Louis and imposed their will on the Rams, leaving the Edward James Dome with a commanding 21-7 victory Saturday night.

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers looked nearly flawless win short work, running the no huddle offense to perfection. Rodgers went 11-of-13 for 128 yards passing, including a 3-yard score to wide receiver Randall Cobb.

Packers linebacker Brad Jones had four tackles, and rookie safety Ha-Ha Clinton-Dix finished with two tackles, and a sack.

The game can be seen locally on KPIX Channel 5, and heard on 98.5 KFOX with the voice of the Raiders, Greg Papa and two-time Super Bowl winning coach, Tom Flores with the call.

Both teams finish up the preseason next Thursday, when the Raiders host the Super Bowl champions Seattle Seahawks, and the Packers will face the Kansas City Chiefs at Lambeau Field.

Raiders and 49ers commentary: Schaub and quarterbacking looking much better;49ers fans still slogging into Levis

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by David Zizmor

ALAMEDA–The Oakland Raiders looked a lot better in last Friday’s game against the Detroit Lions in the the 27-26 close shave win at the Oakland Coliseum. The Raiders had a little bit of a wobble earlier on when quarterback Matt Schaub threw an interception. You don’t have to worry about that with Schaub remember last season Schaub he had six interceptions returned for touchdowns it just became one of the things that snowballed.

Schaub last season just lost his confidence because the interceptions kept coming while interceptions are bad the quarterback surely has something to do with it there’s also a bit of luck involved in it. Sometimes Schaub throws an interception it’s just weird tips, sometimes it’s from receivers running the wrong routes there were a lot of different things coming.

That really ruined Schaub’s season last year, if you see similar interceptions again you can pause, you don’t want to see it, you don’t want to see it coming. Schaub threw that early interception he recovered he came back and played pretty well and he played a couple more series and that’s all he played. Then quarterback Derek Carr came in and he look really good until he got knocked out of the game with a rib injury.

Some of the reporters and players were saying based on what they have seen from Carr and several of his series and a couple of his scoring series, Carr could be the quarterback by the middle of the season. I don’t know about that, that’s anybody’s guess and it all depends on how everyone plays. The Raiders picked Carr with the idea that he would compete for that starting job at some point and the earlier the better.

Traffic still about the same for the 49ers at Levis Stadium: The San Jose Earthquakes earlier this month had a regulation game against the Seattle Sounders at Levis Stadium and it was a test on what it would be like with a lot less fans attending an event at Levis then when the 49ers opened up Levis on Sunday against the Denver Broncos. Fans waited and waited for hours to get in and out of Levis for that match and VTA had lines that lasted one and half hours long.

Traffic again was tied up getting to the park, some fans arrived as early as 6:30 AM to line up for parking, at this stage the city of Santa Clara and the 49ers are working out the kinks and it’s hopeful by the regular season on September 14th the 49ers have it all worked out or most it. Expect this season to be a whole work in progress getting people in and out of that stadium.

As we all know Candlestick Park ran for more than 50 years and they never figured how to get people in there and you hope that’s not the problem with Levis. It’s going to be tough, at this point in the year August, Great America is still open so that the Great America parking lot is off of the table as far as parking options are concerned.

Once Great America closes in September those parking lots will open up for the fans and getting in and out will become a lot more easier just because of the size of those lots and the fact that their already set up for big crowds that should help. Part of the problem you have tens of thousands of people coming in and without that Great America parking lot they flow out on all these other side streets and company lots in the neighboring areas.

It’s just a mess, once Great America is closed that parking lot becomes fair game and that should be easier and they definitely have to work out the issues with the VTA because that’s the big connector to Caltrain. The best option is to figure your public transportation to get to the ball park and go from there. The VTA had it’s issues during the Earthquakes match and part of it was people were litterally crossing in front of the train. Let’s see how it goes for the home opener on September 14th.

David Zizmor does Raiders and 49ers commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

NFC North again? Oakland welcomes Detroit in preseason home opener.

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By. Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — With two rough and tough practices with the Dallas Cowboys under their belts where tempers were hotter than the Oxnard sun that both teams practiced under this week, the Raiders will try to keep that same intensity when they host their first preseason game at O.co Coliseum Friday night against the visiting Detroit Lions.

It will be the second consecutive time Oakland will face a team from the NFC North as the Raiders fell to the Minnesota Vikings, 10-6, in Minneapolis last Friday.

The first-team offense was anemic early with anointed starter Matt Schaub at one point, finding themselves down 10-0. Schaub finished 3-of-7 for 21 yards, but was plagued by three dropped passes that could’ve turned into first downs.

Matt McGloin played well with the second-team offense, finishing with a team-high11-of-18 for 90 yards and a 10-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter that pulled Oakland within a score.

“I thought our guys came back and fought. I thought late in the game we were able to move the ball a little bit…I thought at times we could run the ball pretty well,” said Raiders head coach Dennis Allen after the game. “There are some positives there that we can take and continue to work with but obviously we have a long, long way to go as a football team to be the type of team that we want to be, but I’m sure our guys are going to continue to work.”

Derek Carr, the Raiders second round draft pick, finished 10-of-16 for 74 yards and an interception.

Darren McFadden finished with one carry on a nice 23 yard-burst in the first quarter, while Maurice Jones-Drew had 10 yards on two carries (he had a 7-yard run called back due to a penalty).

Overall, Oakland outgained the Vikings, 268-236 in total yards.

Defensively, Oakland looked sound, finishing with six sacks. Defensive tackle Pat Sims recorded a sack on the first drive of the game.

The Lions (1-0) are coming off a 13-12 home victory over the Cleveland Browns to kickoff their preseason schedule.

Detroit backup quarterback Kellen Moore threw for 121 yard on11-of-13 passing, including the game-winning touchdown from 21-yards out to wide receiver Corey Fuller with 1:05 remaining in the fourth quarter.

On the defensive side of the ball for Detroit, safety Isa Abdul-Quddus and linebacker George Johnson had great showings, combining for six tackles, a forced fumble, and an interception.

After Friday’s game, Oakland will continue their through the NFC North when they will travel to Green Bay for their third preseason game against the Packers.