Jon Gruden jawed at the officials
Kyle Okposo Jersey , worked closely with the quarterbacks and was once again adored by the Oakland Raiders fans.
It was as if he had never left the Coliseum.
Jon Gruden was a winner in his return to the sideline for Oakland when the Raiders got a touchdown pass from Connor Cook in a 16-10 victory over the
Detroit Lions on Friday night.
"It was awesome," he said. "I saw some recognizable faces that had gotten a little bit older. I saw some old friends who mean a lot to me. Like I said all
along, this is a great responsibility. The nostalgia has worn off. We have to do
something with the opportunity. But it was sure great to see the Raiders
fans."
Gruden was welcomed back warmly to the Coliseum for his first game here as Raiders coach since beating the Jets in a playoff game Jan. 12, 2001. Gruden was
traded to Tampa Bay after that season and has spent the past nine years as an
ESPN analyst.
Raiders owner Mark Davis lured Gruden back to the sideline with a 10-year contract worth a reported $100 million following a disappointing six-win season
under Jack Del Rio.
The Gruden era appeared to get off to a rousing start when Marshawn Lynch ran 60 yards for a TD on the third snap, but the score was called back on a holding
penalty by rookie tackle Kolton Miller.
"I was really ticked off after watching that get called back," Gruden said. "Chucky came out for a brief moment tonight."
Oakland settled for a punt on the only drive with starting quarterback Derek Carr, but scored three times in five drives with Cook at the helm. Cook threw a
7-yard TD pass to Ryan Switzer in the second quarter and led Oakland to a pair
of field goals by rookie Eddy Pineiro. Cook finished 11 for 19 for 141
yards.
The Lions also welcomed a new coach in Matt Patricia, who opted to rest star quarterback Matthew Stafford, who got enough work in two days of joint practices
against Oakland.
"We got a lot of good work in this week," Patricia said. "He took a lot of reps and he saw a lot of different looks. That was the goal, to come out here
and be able to get some of those different team tempo plays and have it scripted
and a little controlled. Just thought it was a good opportunity tonight to have
the other guys go out and compete."
Matt Cassel got the start and went 10 for 18 for 81 yards
Radim Vrbata Jersey , leading Detroit to one score on three drives, with Ameer Abdullah capping it with a 1-yard TD run . Jake Rudock finished 12 for 19
for 84 yards.
NATIONAL ANTHEM
Lynch once again sat during the national anthem. Lynch also sat for the anthem all of last season but never gave a reason for his decision. No other
players on either team demonstrated during the anthem, with the Lions all
standing together with locked arms.
ROOKIE REPORT
Lions second-round RB Kerryon Johnson showed good burst, running for 34 yards on seven carries and adding four catches for 33 yards.
"To me, didn't make enough plays at the beginning, didn't make enough plays at the end," Johnson said. "I still have work to do. We still have work to do.
It was the first game. First-game jitters out for everybody."
The Raiders also had a strong performance from a second-round pick with DT P.J. Hall getting a sack and batting down a pass in the first half. Oakland
undrafted free agent RB Chris Warren III ran 13 times for 86 yards .
INJURIES
Raiders CB Antonio Hamilton limped off twice in the second half with an apparent ankle injury.
HELMET FOUL
There was one penalty under the new rule prohibiting players from leading with their helmets. Oakland S Karl Joseph was called for the infraction on a
tackle against Abdullah in the second quarter.
OFF THE DIRT
Pineiro's second field goal came at the end of the first half after Gruden called for a run that set up Pineiro's 48-yarder off the infield dirt. Pineiro
added a 45-yard field goal off the dirt in the fourth quarter. The Raiders will
play at least one regular-season game this season with the infield dirt in place
for Oakland Athletics games.
"I remember when we drafted (Sebastian) Janikowski, it was like being on a foreign planet for him when he got here and started kicking off the dirt,"
Gruden said of Oakland's first-round pick in 2000. "We did manage to get him a
couple of looks."
NEXT UP
Lions: Host Giants on Aug. 17.
Raiders: Visit Rams on Aug. 18.
LeBron James has perfected a signature, soul-crushing shot that also seems to describe what’s happening again to the
Toronto Raptors.
The fadeaway.
With cold-blooded precision, James worked the 24-second shot clock down to single digits before sinking one fadeaway after the next in Game 2 on Thursday
night
Auston Matthews Jersey , each swish pushing the top-seeded team in the Eastern Conference closer to ending a season that was supposed to conclude
differently.
Instead, it’s a replay: another Raptors extinction is expected.
Back from LeBronto, as some have nicknamed Canada’s multi-cultural metropolis, James and the Cavaliers – featuring a rejuvenated Kevin Love – will
host Game 3 on Saturday night. They look to tighten their stranglehold on a
semifinal series that has gotten away from the Raptors.
In the East’s other semifinal, the Philadelphia Sixers are trusting their process – and that Ben Simmons will shake off a horrible performance in Game 2 –
before they fall into their own 3-0 hole against a Boston Celtics team that
added a spectacular comeback to a season of overcoming long odds. Boston wiped
out Philly’s 22-point lead on Thursday to open a 2-0 lead.
For the Raptors, this is all so familiar, so painful.
They insist that the magnificent James, who has won eight straight playoff games against the Raptors and eliminated Toronto from the past two postseasons,
is not in their heads. That’s what the Raptors are saying; they might not
believe it.
After James dropped shots and jaws with 43 points on 28 shots with 14 assists and eight rebounds in Game 2, All-Star forward DeMar DeRozan insisted the
Raptors will fight back.
”It’s the first one to win four,” he said. ”It’s not over.”
History begs to differ.
James is 21-0 in playoff series in which he has held a 2-0 lead
Sam Gagner Jersey , and the 33-year-old seems intent on dispatching the Raptors for a third straight postseason and maybe get to his eighth straight
Finals.
”When he retires, that’s what you admire what he’s done,” said Toronto coach Dwane Casey. ”Right now he’s the enemy and we’ve got to do a better job of not
being part of history. We’ve got to make LeBron work harder for his catches and
work harder for some of his possessions. You’ve got to live with something. Some
of those shots are indefensible.”
A closer look at Saturday’s games:
CELTICS AT 76ERS
Boston leads 2-0. Game 3, 5 p.m. EDT, ESPN
NEED TO KNOW
The Sixers are headed back to the Wells Fargo Center where they won 30 regular-season games and two more in a first-round playoff series over Miami.
Philly won a franchise-record 16 straight games to close the season, so a
comeback isn’t totally out of reach. But history – and a Celtics team clicking –
is working against the Sixers. Boston has won all 36 playoff series when it has
a 2-0 lead.
KEEP AN EYE ON
Simmons. He was a leading contender for rookie of the year and a regular threat to notch a triple-double. But where was he in Game 2 when he failed to
score a field goal for the first time? Simmons said he was ”overthinking.”
Perhaps his mind was racing from Boston’s physical defense, which kept him from
driving to the basket and forced him into five turnovers.
INJURY UPDATE
Jaylen Brown returned to the Celtics after sitting out the opener with a strained right hamstring. He came off the bench and played 25 minutes, scoring
13 points and grabbing four rebounds.
PRESSURE IS ON
Sixers coach Brett Brown. The playoffs are about adjustments and he needs to make one to free Simmons from Boston’s defensive clutches. If Simmons continues
to struggle, Brown may have to stick with backup point guard T.J. McConnell, who
sparked the Sixers with eight points, five assists and two steals in 17 minutes
of Game 2.
—
RAPTORS AT CAVALIERS
Cleveland leads 2-0. Game 5
Valtteri Filppula Jersey , 8:30 p.m., ESPN
NEED TO KNOW
James continues to ascend and astound. He’s averaging 34.4 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists and 41.7 minutes in his 13th postseason. He has led
Cleveland in points and assists in 10 consecutive playoff games, tying Hall of
Famer Oscar Robertson for the longest such streak in postseason history.
KEEP AN EYE ON
Toronto’s defense on James and Love, who scored 31 in Game 2. Casey has to try something new to slow down James because nothing is working. His ability to
post up creates a dilemma: guard him with one player and he gets to the rim;
double-team him and risk him finding an open teammate for an uncontested
shot.
The Raptors need to force some mistakes after the Cavs had a franchise playoff record-low three turnovers in Game 2.
INJURY UPDATE
Both teams are relatively healthy.
PRESSURE IS ON
DeRozan and Raptors guard Kyle Lowry. They’ve spent the past two years chasing and not catching James. The only way for the Raptors not to be
considered pretenders again is for them to dethrone King James and they’re
running out of time.
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