Photo by: Miguel Blair
Oakland, CA - It's been an uphill battle for the starting quarterback spot with the Oakland Raiders. Matt Flynn has not lived up to his hype while Terrelle Pryor continues to get better. In tonight's 34-26 loss to the Chicago Bears it's evident Pryor should have a shot at starting quarterback.
Jay Cutler and Matt Forte had their way with the Raiders in the first quarter. Cutler threw for 142 yards which included a 32-yard touchdown pass to Forte. Former Raiders running back Michael Bush scored a pair of touchdowns that gave the Bears a 24-0 lead to start the second quarter.
"It was a good outing for everybody, but it's preseason," said Cutler. "You can't get caught up in that. I don't think we can get too high on this game. We made some mistakes and we need to go back and look at them. But it's good barometer of where we're at and where we can go."
Oakland struggled behind Flynn who threw two interceptions in the first half. The first interception was intended for DeNarius Moore in the first quarter and Chicago scored their first touchdown on that turnover. He fumbled on a snap, recovered the ball and then got picked off for the second time and that brought in Terrelle who sparked the offense to rally a comeback.
"Matt did not play well in this game," coach Dennis Allen said. "We have to come out and play better. Terrelle gave us the spark we needed. His mobility out there definitely catches my eye, tonight he played well."
Pryor orchestrated the first points for the Raiders when he completed a pass to Mychal Rivera that set up Sebastian Janikowski 53-yard field goal to end the half. He dazzled the crowd on the opening drive in the third quarter by scrambling away from five defenders to connect with Rod Streater for the first down.
"I've been working hard and that's how I expect to play," said Pryor. "My teammates helped me play better out there, I wanted to get in there so badly with the first team, I wish they would've stayed in longer. Everyday I just want to get better."
Terrelle then rushed for a 25-yard touchdown while diving in the end zone. Later in the quarter he threw a touchdown pass to Nick Kasa and got Oakland back in the game as they cut the lead down 27-20. He finished 7-for-9 for 93 yards and has made a good case for the starting position.
"What I want to do is look at who gives us the best chance to move the ball down the field and score points," Allen said. "Obviously I'm not going to look at one night and base any type of decision on one night. I'll go back and look at it and we'll see where we go from here."