Raiders improve to 3-0 in preseason under new coach Shell

[Walter Cronkite]

Oakland Raiders' quarterback Aaron Brooks makes a pass against the San Francisco 49ers

Art Shell's first game coaching in Oakland gave the Raiders' fans plenty to cheer about.

Aaron Brooks threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Doug Gabriel on Oakland's opening drive, and Andrew Walter led two second-half scoring drives to lead the Raiders to a 23-7 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.

Oakland improved to 3-0 in preseason under Shell, who was brought back to return the team to its glory days after three straight losing seasons. Shell won two Super Bowls as a Hall of Fame tackle with the Raiders and led the team to three playoff berths in 4½ seasons as coach when the team played in Los Angeles.

The Raiders struggled in their first two preseason wins but put together a much more complete performance against their cross-bay rivalries, scoring on five of their first eight drives and holding the Niners scoreless until the final minutes.

After completing only one pass in each of Oakland's first two exhibition games, Brooks came out looking sharp, completing an 11-yard pass to Gabriel on his first play.

He was 4-for-5 for 42 yards on the 75-yard drive and also had a 25-yard scramble. He was helped out when Mike Adams dropped a potential interception at the goal line three plays before the TD pass to Gabriel.

Brooks relied heavily on his tight ends, completing two passes to Courtney Anderson and three to Randal Williams, including a 39-yarder that set up Sebastian Janikowski's 23-yard field goal at the end of the half.

Brooks, who finished 10-for-17 for 125 yards, also had problems at times. He used two timeouts in the first quarter, missed a wide-open Alvis Whitted on a deep pass to end Oakland's second drive, threw an interception in the end zone in the second quarter and botched a handoff to LaMont Jordan that nearly led to another turnover.

Walter, who completed just 44.8 percent of his passes the first two preseason games, went 8-for-9 for 99 yards as he led scoring drives on both of his possessions.

Justin Fargas scored on a 3-yard run to camp the first drive and David Kimball kicked a 23-yard field goal to end the second drive.

Alex Smith, who had a strong preseason opener, was not nearly as good in his second game. He began the game by throwing an off-target lateral to Bryan Gilmore that ended up as a 12-yard loss and ended his half by throwing a pass that was intercepted by Tyrone Poole.

Smith was intercepted earlier in the half by Raiders first-round pick Michael Huff, who left the game with an injured left ankle. Smith went 6-for-12 for 81 yards and two interceptions.

The Niners got their only score late in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard pass from Trent Dilfer to Michael Robinson. Dilfer ran over to the Oakland bench after the play and yelled something at his former Tampa Bay teammate, Warren Sapp. Dilfer got a personal foul for taunting, his second of the game.

Before the game, the 49ers traded running back Kevan Barlow to the New York Jets for an undisclosed 2007 draft pick. Barlow's departure officially hands the 49ers' starting job to second-year running back Frank Gore, who already was well on his way to winning it outright.

Gore, San Francisco's leading rusher last year with 608 yards, ran for 42 yards on seven carries.

Source: AP

[AndySMC]

It was pretty one sided.

The Raiders shot themselves in the foot there on the goal line with the holding penatly (away from the play). And Williams let the ball go through his hands that resulted in an INT. But from what I saw Brooks had all day to throw. What happened at practice to bring this on? Jordan has had some room and is blowing secondary guys away, running right through them.

Brooks missed on a couple of deep balls.

Gallery and Huff both dinged a bit i hear but it didnt sound like much.

And the defense shut the niners down.