Carson Palmer may be the starting quarterback for the Oakland Raiders, but he isn't the quarterback fans will be talking about tomorrow. Palmer's usual backup, fellow USC Trojan Matt Leinart, was held out of the game due to a cut on his hand. It would be the backup to the backup, former Ohio State star Terrelle Pryor, who provided the offense that Palmer and his first-unit couldn't, leading the Raiders to a 31-20 victory over the Detroit Lions. This is the first victory of the preseason for the silver-and-black and their new head coach Dennis Allen.
Coach Allen planned to have his starters play the entire first half. Palmer had a game that was expected of him, going 17-for-26 for 181 yards with two interceptions while facing a strong defense lead by Ndamukong Suh. Suh took down Palmer for Detroit's only sack of the game. The Raiders played running back Darren McFadden conservatively. He rushed for 27 yards in nine carries with one touchdown. Following McFadden's rush into the end zone, Oakland's long-time kicker Sebastian Janikowski nailed the point after but came up limping with a possible groin injury. He was kept out of the rest of the game in favor of Eddy Carmona.
Following a lackluster first half with only ten points on the board, the Raiders would bring in Terrelle Pryor in place of Palmer. Pryor entered the game against the Lions' second team and did what Terrelle Pryor does - run. He lead the Raiders in rushing with 90 yards in five carries, in addition to going 3-for-5 for 137 yards passing. Pryor would score one touchdown himself and would throw for two more; scoring a total of 21 points in the second half, leading the Raiders to victory.
Detroit's starting quarterback Matthew Stafford sustained an injury to his non-throwing hand in the second quarter. No word from Detroit as to the seriousness of Stafford's injury.
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