Raiders beat Eagles in Hall of Fame game
It was only one series for the first-team offense and two for the first-team defense. It was only the Oakland Raiders, a team that finished last season with four victories and looks primed to win fewer than that in 2006.
That said, the Philadelphia Eagles' starters pretty much pitched a perfect game during a cameo appearance in their preseason debut Sunday night in the Hall of Fame Game at Fawcett Stadium.
The Raiders' reserves rallied for a 16-10 victory, but Oakland running back LaMont Jordan gave an accurate account of the evening's events.
"It looked like we picked up right where we left off last year," Jordan said. "We've got a lot of work to do."
The game took a serious turn with 1 minute, 14 seconds remaining, when reserve running back Bruce Perry suffered an apparently serious injury. Perry was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Oakland's offense had minus-3 yards against the Eagles' first-team defense, and the Eagles' first-team offense scored a touchdown on its only possession, making it look easy in the process.
It wasn't a bad night for the Eagles' special teams, either.
David Akers, playing against the same team that he beat with a heroic field goal with a torn right hamstring last season, set a Hall of Fame Game record with a 55-yard field goal in the second quarter. Dirk Johnson dropped a punt inside the 5-yard line later in the same period.
"We came with a different attitude," quarterback Donovan McNabb said. "This is something that's serious for us. We were prepared to come out and have a good showing. This preseason is something that we're going to take very serious. We're going to go into practice with a full head of steam so we come out here ready to play in a game situation. It's going to be a lot of fun."
The Eagles' fun on this night started with the defense. The Raiders' offense, on the game's opening series, went 7 yards in reverse. Jordan carried three times for minus-2 yards as Darwin Walker, Jevon Kearse and Darren Howard all made big plays up front.
"It went fast, but we did what we had to do when we were in there," said Howard, the Eagles' biggest free-agent addition at defensive end. "It was important for us to set the tone, and we did that."
Enter McNabb and the first-team offense.
Coach Andy Reid promised a more balanced attack in the off-season, but once again that wasn't the case. The pass-happy coach called twice as many runs as passes on his team's first series of the preseason.
Using six Brian Westbrook runs and three McNabb completions on as many attempts, the Eagles covered 61 yards for a touchdown almost as easily as they do during one of those training-camp scrimmages when tackling is prohibited.
Westbrook picked up 32 yards on the drive and scored on a 1-yard dive into the end zone with 7 minutes, 50 seconds left in the first quarter.
"It felt great," the running back said. "Coach told us early that we wanted to kind of set the tone with the running game, and that's what we did. The offensive line was out there opening holes. I thought, really, on a couple of runs I should have scored. I tripped up a little bit on a couple of runs, so I've got to do a better job. But the offensive line did a great job, and hopefully that's how it will be."
The offensive line wasn't just good in the running game. McNabb might as well have had on his red practice jersey for as close as the Raiders came to hitting him. The quarterback, after hugging a few of the newly inducted Hall of Famers before the game, was right on target with all three of his passes.
Rookie Hank Baskett, the Cinderella story of this training camp, continued his impressive play by catching McNabb's first pass of the night for a first down. McNabb also found Reggie Brown for an 8-yard gain and followed it up with a short pass to Westbrook for a 14-yard play in a third-and-3 situation.
After the Eagles scored, the first-team defense got one more shot against the Raiders and second-year defensive end Trent Cole ended the series with a sack of quarterback Aaron Brooks for a 7-yard loss on a play in which Howard moved to defensive tackle.
"Our goal when the season started was to be the No. 1 defense in the league, and this is the first step," linebacker Jeremiah Trotter said.
The players that followed the Eagles' first-teamers weren't nearly as polished.
Quarterback Jeff Garcia, in his Eagles debut, threw an interception on his second series after receiver Jabar Gaffney slipped as he tried to break off his pattern. Cornerback Fabian Washington returned the ball to the Eagles' 23-yard line, and the Raiders needed just three plays to score the game-tying touchdown. Brooks connected with tight end Courtney Anderson for the score early in the second quarter.
Garcia completed 5 of 10 attempts for 43 yards.
The offense went nowhere when quarterback Koy Detmer entered the game in the third quarter and the Raiders eventually evened the score on a 51-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski late in the third quarter.
More bad offense with Timmy Chang at quarterback and Perry at running back helped set the Raiders up with good field position early in the final quarter. Janikowski connected for a 50-yard field goal that gave Oakland the lead.
A bad exchange between Chang and Perry later in the quarter resulted in a fumble that was recovered by the Raiders. Janikowski added a 24-yard field goal to close out the scoring.
But this was an Eagles loss that they certainly could live with.
That said, the Philadelphia Eagles' starters pretty much pitched a perfect game during a cameo appearance in their preseason debut Sunday night in the Hall of Fame Game at Fawcett Stadium.
The Raiders' reserves rallied for a 16-10 victory, but Oakland running back LaMont Jordan gave an accurate account of the evening's events.
"It looked like we picked up right where we left off last year," Jordan said. "We've got a lot of work to do."
The game took a serious turn with 1 minute, 14 seconds remaining, when reserve running back Bruce Perry suffered an apparently serious injury. Perry was taken off the field on a stretcher.
Oakland's offense had minus-3 yards against the Eagles' first-team defense, and the Eagles' first-team offense scored a touchdown on its only possession, making it look easy in the process.
It wasn't a bad night for the Eagles' special teams, either.
David Akers, playing against the same team that he beat with a heroic field goal with a torn right hamstring last season, set a Hall of Fame Game record with a 55-yard field goal in the second quarter. Dirk Johnson dropped a punt inside the 5-yard line later in the same period.
"We came with a different attitude," quarterback Donovan McNabb said. "This is something that's serious for us. We were prepared to come out and have a good showing. This preseason is something that we're going to take very serious. We're going to go into practice with a full head of steam so we come out here ready to play in a game situation. It's going to be a lot of fun."
The Eagles' fun on this night started with the defense. The Raiders' offense, on the game's opening series, went 7 yards in reverse. Jordan carried three times for minus-2 yards as Darwin Walker, Jevon Kearse and Darren Howard all made big plays up front.
"It went fast, but we did what we had to do when we were in there," said Howard, the Eagles' biggest free-agent addition at defensive end. "It was important for us to set the tone, and we did that."
Enter McNabb and the first-team offense.
Coach Andy Reid promised a more balanced attack in the off-season, but once again that wasn't the case. The pass-happy coach called twice as many runs as passes on his team's first series of the preseason.
Using six Brian Westbrook runs and three McNabb completions on as many attempts, the Eagles covered 61 yards for a touchdown almost as easily as they do during one of those training-camp scrimmages when tackling is prohibited.
Westbrook picked up 32 yards on the drive and scored on a 1-yard dive into the end zone with 7 minutes, 50 seconds left in the first quarter.
"It felt great," the running back said. "Coach told us early that we wanted to kind of set the tone with the running game, and that's what we did. The offensive line was out there opening holes. I thought, really, on a couple of runs I should have scored. I tripped up a little bit on a couple of runs, so I've got to do a better job. But the offensive line did a great job, and hopefully that's how it will be."
The offensive line wasn't just good in the running game. McNabb might as well have had on his red practice jersey for as close as the Raiders came to hitting him. The quarterback, after hugging a few of the newly inducted Hall of Famers before the game, was right on target with all three of his passes.
Rookie Hank Baskett, the Cinderella story of this training camp, continued his impressive play by catching McNabb's first pass of the night for a first down. McNabb also found Reggie Brown for an 8-yard gain and followed it up with a short pass to Westbrook for a 14-yard play in a third-and-3 situation.
After the Eagles scored, the first-team defense got one more shot against the Raiders and second-year defensive end Trent Cole ended the series with a sack of quarterback Aaron Brooks for a 7-yard loss on a play in which Howard moved to defensive tackle.
"Our goal when the season started was to be the No. 1 defense in the league, and this is the first step," linebacker Jeremiah Trotter said.
The players that followed the Eagles' first-teamers weren't nearly as polished.
Quarterback Jeff Garcia, in his Eagles debut, threw an interception on his second series after receiver Jabar Gaffney slipped as he tried to break off his pattern. Cornerback Fabian Washington returned the ball to the Eagles' 23-yard line, and the Raiders needed just three plays to score the game-tying touchdown. Brooks connected with tight end Courtney Anderson for the score early in the second quarter.
Garcia completed 5 of 10 attempts for 43 yards.
The offense went nowhere when quarterback Koy Detmer entered the game in the third quarter and the Raiders eventually evened the score on a 51-yard field goal by Sebastian Janikowski late in the third quarter.
More bad offense with Timmy Chang at quarterback and Perry at running back helped set the Raiders up with good field position early in the final quarter. Janikowski connected for a 50-yard field goal that gave Oakland the lead.
A bad exchange between Chang and Perry later in the quarter resulted in a fumble that was recovered by the Raiders. Janikowski added a 24-yard field goal to close out the scoring.
But this was an Eagles loss that they certainly could live with.
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