The Raiders might not name a starting quarterback until "right before" the opener.
READY, ER ... NOT
RAIDERS: Culpepper, McCown remain in close race for starter
(08-31) 04:00 PDT Seattle - --
The practice season is over, the game stats are in, and the winner is ... well, Raiders coach Lane Kiffin is going to need a few more days on this one.
If Thursday's 19-14 loss to the Seahawks will preside as the knot buster, Raiders quarterback Daunte Culpepper just may have won the starting job for the Sept. 9 season opener against the visiting Lions.
Or, not. If this was an easy call, Kiffin would have made it two weeks ago.
"As for the quarterback question, don't have an answer for you," Kiffin said. "We'll go back and look at the film and see where it goes from there."
Kiffin said it's "very possible" that he won't announce the winner of the Culpepper versus Josh McCown competition until right before the Lions game, if only to keep Detroit from knowing which quarterback to plan for.
Culpepper, signed a month ago today, came off the bench to complete 11 of 19 passes for 108 yards with one touchdown and one interception. McCown started and was 5-of-12 for 75 yards with no scores or turnovers.
Culpepper seemed to nudge ahead when he put together a 10-play, 64-yard scoring drive in the third quarter. Just when it seemed Kiffin had an easy decision on his hands, Culpepper went 1-for-5 on his next drive, then threw an open-field interception one possession later.
"I think I did some things good and there's some things I wish I could take back," Culpepper said, summing up a monthlong quarterback race that had the feel of a blow-by-blow competition Thursday.
To his benefit, Culpepper did one drive wonderfully right, with his 5-yard touchdown throw on the run to tight end James Adkisson showing Kiffin anything he could want to see.
After missing most of the past two seasons with a serious knee injury, Culpepper ran fluidly on a designed rollout and could have scored easily on a keeper. Instead, he let his right arm unload a team-best fourth touchdown pass.
"Putting points on the board, that's always good," Culpepper said.
Those scores could be what separates Culpepper for good from McCown, who has no touchdown throws in four games.
McCown opened the game with a well-timed 19-yard throw to Ron Curry, but the drive died at the Seattle 21 and ended with a missed field-goal attempt. His other series ended with a punt and two unconverted fourth downs.
"Anytime you go out and don't put points on the board, you hate it," McCown said. "We'll see where it goes from here."
In McCown's favor, he guided the offense to 130 yards on 24 plays with no turnovers. Culpepper's offense had 123 yards on 27 plays with one turnover and one safety.
Where McCown and Culpepper were inconclusive in so many ways, others put exclamation points on their body of work.
Start with rookie Johnnie Lee Higgins, who surely won the punt-return job with his 90-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
Higgins took the ball at the Raiders' 10 and, with no blockers between him and two charging Seahawks, made both miss with a single juke. When Higgins got to the end zone untouched, he did a somersault and back flip.
Wide receiver Mike Williams cemented his spot with three catches for 51 yards. He stiff-armed cornerback Josh Wilson for a 17-yard catch, and made an over-the-shoulder 25-yard catch on the first play of the second quarter.
None of this came against Seattle's best. The Seahawks did not play 20 of 22 starters.
The Raiders used their starters on offense for one series before turning to backups, and didn't play defensive end Derrick Burgess, defensive tackle Warren Sapp or cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.
In the running: Running backs Justin Fargas and Adimchinobe Echemandu each played one quarter to help decide who backs up LaMont Jordan next week.
Echemandu, who had a league-high 153 rushing yards in the first three exhibition games, had four carries for 15 yards. Fargas had three rushes for 4 yards.
The backup role is unsettled because Dominic Rhodes begins a four-game suspension Saturday.
Briefly: Jake Grove and Jeremy Newberry alternated at center for the first four drives of the game. Kiffin expects to name a starter in the next few days. ... Chris Carr started at cornerback but left the game with a mild hamstring injury. ... Backup linebacker Isaiah Ekejiuba, a staple on special teams, left the game with a heel injury. X-rays were negative.
E-mail David White at [email protected].
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/31/SPP8RSDBR.DTL
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
READY, ER ... NOT
RAIDERS: Culpepper, McCown remain in close race for starter
(08-31) 04:00 PDT Seattle - --
The practice season is over, the game stats are in, and the winner is ... well, Raiders coach Lane Kiffin is going to need a few more days on this one.
If Thursday's 19-14 loss to the Seahawks will preside as the knot buster, Raiders quarterback Daunte Culpepper just may have won the starting job for the Sept. 9 season opener against the visiting Lions.
Or, not. If this was an easy call, Kiffin would have made it two weeks ago.
"As for the quarterback question, don't have an answer for you," Kiffin said. "We'll go back and look at the film and see where it goes from there."
Kiffin said it's "very possible" that he won't announce the winner of the Culpepper versus Josh McCown competition until right before the Lions game, if only to keep Detroit from knowing which quarterback to plan for.
Culpepper, signed a month ago today, came off the bench to complete 11 of 19 passes for 108 yards with one touchdown and one interception. McCown started and was 5-of-12 for 75 yards with no scores or turnovers.
Culpepper seemed to nudge ahead when he put together a 10-play, 64-yard scoring drive in the third quarter. Just when it seemed Kiffin had an easy decision on his hands, Culpepper went 1-for-5 on his next drive, then threw an open-field interception one possession later.
"I think I did some things good and there's some things I wish I could take back," Culpepper said, summing up a monthlong quarterback race that had the feel of a blow-by-blow competition Thursday.
To his benefit, Culpepper did one drive wonderfully right, with his 5-yard touchdown throw on the run to tight end James Adkisson showing Kiffin anything he could want to see.
After missing most of the past two seasons with a serious knee injury, Culpepper ran fluidly on a designed rollout and could have scored easily on a keeper. Instead, he let his right arm unload a team-best fourth touchdown pass.
"Putting points on the board, that's always good," Culpepper said.
Those scores could be what separates Culpepper for good from McCown, who has no touchdown throws in four games.
McCown opened the game with a well-timed 19-yard throw to Ron Curry, but the drive died at the Seattle 21 and ended with a missed field-goal attempt. His other series ended with a punt and two unconverted fourth downs.
"Anytime you go out and don't put points on the board, you hate it," McCown said. "We'll see where it goes from here."
In McCown's favor, he guided the offense to 130 yards on 24 plays with no turnovers. Culpepper's offense had 123 yards on 27 plays with one turnover and one safety.
Where McCown and Culpepper were inconclusive in so many ways, others put exclamation points on their body of work.
Start with rookie Johnnie Lee Higgins, who surely won the punt-return job with his 90-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
Higgins took the ball at the Raiders' 10 and, with no blockers between him and two charging Seahawks, made both miss with a single juke. When Higgins got to the end zone untouched, he did a somersault and back flip.
Wide receiver Mike Williams cemented his spot with three catches for 51 yards. He stiff-armed cornerback Josh Wilson for a 17-yard catch, and made an over-the-shoulder 25-yard catch on the first play of the second quarter.
None of this came against Seattle's best. The Seahawks did not play 20 of 22 starters.
The Raiders used their starters on offense for one series before turning to backups, and didn't play defensive end Derrick Burgess, defensive tackle Warren Sapp or cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.
In the running: Running backs Justin Fargas and Adimchinobe Echemandu each played one quarter to help decide who backs up LaMont Jordan next week.
Echemandu, who had a league-high 153 rushing yards in the first three exhibition games, had four carries for 15 yards. Fargas had three rushes for 4 yards.
The backup role is unsettled because Dominic Rhodes begins a four-game suspension Saturday.
Briefly: Jake Grove and Jeremy Newberry alternated at center for the first four drives of the game. Kiffin expects to name a starter in the next few days. ... Chris Carr started at cornerback but left the game with a mild hamstring injury. ... Backup linebacker Isaiah Ekejiuba, a staple on special teams, left the game with a heel injury. X-rays were negative.
E-mail David White at [email protected].
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/08/31/SPP8RSDBR.DTL
This article appeared on page C - 1 of the San Francisco Chronicle
