Raiders winners and losers in 27-12 preseason defeat vs. Cowboys

After an encouraging performance last week, the Raiders starting offense bogged down against the Cowboys’ second-team defense in Las Vegas on Saturday. The defense had its own struggles and the home team lost, 27-12 in a lackluster preseason ballgame.

Quarterback Gardner Minshew got the start and missed multiple opportunities to take a commanding lead in his battle for the starting QB job. That left the door open for QB Aidan O’Connell. He threw a touchdown pass to tight end Bryant in the Raiders’ first drive of the second half, but just as it appeared he would take charge in the QB competition, he threw a pick-6 to open the fourth quarter.

As for the defense, they allowed 114 rushing yards in the first half, despite playing most of their starters. Like the offense, they faced Cowboys backups.

Here are the winners and losers for the week after the Raiders dropped to 1-1 in the preseason.

Winner: WR Tre Tucker

The Raiders didn’t score many points on Saturday, but they found moderate success in the passing game.

Wide receiver Tre Tucker built on his strong showing last week and hauled in three catches for 66 yards, including a 48-yard grab on a throw from Minshew. Tucker also had a nifty 43-yard punt return. The second-year speedster continues to improve and could see a major role with the Las Vegas offense this year.

Winner: WR DJ Turner

Wide receiver DJ Turner continued his strong preseason, notching five catches for 31 yards. He was a security blanket for O’Connell as O’Connell led a long drive for Las Vegas to start the second half.

The Raiders are looking for depth at wideout, and with other reserves yet to make a huge impact, Turner appears ready to take on a larger role this year as well. He’s similar in stature to Tucker but is a little more shifty in space, providing some versatility to the back-end of the Raiders WR depth.

Loser: QB Gardner Minshew

Coach Antonio Pierce said he planned to name his starting quarterback after playing the Cowboys. Minshew played first and had every opportunity to take the job, especially because the Cowboys played their reserve defense.

Minshew started slow but appeared to rebound after his bomb to Tucker. He continued missing his receivers, however, and he made some risky throws that could have been interceptions.

Pierce played Minshew into the second quarter despite planning to switch to O’Connell at that time. Minshew went 3-and-out after remaining in the ball game, and after the Raiders special teams recovered a punt-return fumble, Minshew missed badly on a 4th-and-6 throw.

Loser: QB Aidan O’Connell

O’Connell looked solid after entering the game in the third quarter but failed to capitalize on Tucker’s punt return. In his defense, a questionable penalty on offensive lineman Jordan Meredith stalled the drive.

He led a long scoring drive in the third quarter that ended with a touchdown throw to tight end Harrison Bryant. At the moment, it appeared that O’Connell was about to take his starting job back.

But then he threw a pick-6 interception, giving the Cowboys a 20-12 advantage.

Coach Pierce expected to have answers at quarterback after this game, but he’s likely questioning both signal-callers after this effort.

Loser: OC Luke Getsy

Minshew wasn’t the only one to have an opportunity against Cowboys backups. Offensive coordinator Luke Getsy had a chance to build on his offense’s strong showing last week but his unit was a dud in this ballgame. He was without star WR Davante Adams and rookie tight end Brock Bowers, but that’s no excuse.

Loser: Reserve defensive lineman

The Raiders’ defensive starters played a lot in the first half. It went fairly well until defensive lineman Maxx Crosby, Christian Wilkins, and John Jenkins exited the game late in the second quarter.

As the rest of the Raiders starters remained in the game, Las Vegas’ reserve linemen were the weak link on a 14-play drive that ended with a touchdown toss by Cowboys QB Trey Lance. Raiders starting cornerback Jack Jones was beat on the play in one-on-one coverage.

Loser: DL Tyree Wilson

Former top-10 draft pick defensive lineman Tyree Wilson again flew under the radar in this game. He was most noticeable as he lost Lance in space on the edge near the goalline. Though he did assist DE Elerson Smith on a nice tackle on a shovel pass.

As it’s often said: this is just the preseason. But the Raiders need answers at quarterback and time is running out before the regular season. O’Connell looked better than Minshew in this game, but that’s not saying much.

It stands to reason that Pierce will hold off on naming a starter, but he may feel it’s too close to the regular season to leave his team in QB limbo and name a starter anyway.

Either way, this was not the performance the Raiders needed. The only thing left to do is have a good week of practice and try again in Week 3 of the preseason against the 49ers on Friday.