Seahawks-Raiders Final Score: Austin Davis throws game-winning touchdown, Seattle finishes preseason 4-0

In an absolute slog of a game (even by preseason standards), the Seattle Seahawks defeated the Oakland Raiders 17-13, thanks to some late-game heroics by quarterback Austin Davis, who made a strong case for himself to be Russell Wilson’s backup.

As you would expect, most of Seattle’s starters didn’t even play a snap, although the first-team offensive line featured for much of the opening quarter. Trevone Boykin did throw a touchdown to a wide open Rodney Smith, but he once again disappointed, as he tossed two terrible interceptions (one of which led to Oakland’s only touchdown) and took a needless sack as Seattle was trying to get themselves a field goal during an end-of-half two-minute drill. The problem with Boykin is his negative moments are glaringly obvious, and these last two weeks have been brutal.

Austin Davis played for the entire 2nd half, leading Seattle into field goal position on his first drive, but Blair Walsh missed wide right on a 49-yarder kicked in the dirt. After several empty possessions, and with the game (and possibly his job) on the line, Austin went 5-for-5, 61 yards, and the go-ahead touchdown strike to Kenny Lawler.

Davis finished the night 10-of-16 for 123 yards and a touchdown.

There wasn’t much to report from the running game apart from the return to C.J. Prosise, who had 3 carries for 5 yards. He didn’t get injured on any of these touches, so we can all breathe a sigh of relief. At wide receiver, rookie Amara Darboh finally got himself on the stat sheet, catching 3 balls for 22 yards, including a successful 3rd down conversion. Kasen Williams led the Seahawks with 57 yards receiving on 2 catches.

On defense, Neiko Thorpe forced a fumble on the second play from scrimmage, and Terence Garvin was there to recover and return the football inside Oakland’s 10. Seattle was only able to muster a field goal. There was a lot of undisciplined play, with the Raiders frequently dvancing the ball down the field through bad Seahawks penalties. Thorpe and Demetrius McCray both had rough days, while Pierre Desir performed well and was unlucky not to manage at least one interception. Dewey McDonald was a standout player, as he delivered some big hits and recorded a tackle-for-loss on a 3rd down screen pass.

Seattle’s defensive line struggled against the run in the 2nd half, and they were fortunate that a holding call negated a George Atkinson III touchdown when the game was knotted up at 10-10. There were also issues with Seahawk defenders losing contain on the outside, which led to some chunk plays. With all of that said, after Davis’ touchdown to Lawler, Seattle’s backups put the clamps on Oakland’s backups. Mike Morgan strip-sacked Connor Cook in the final minute, and in the dying seconds, Desir broke up a Cook throw and Ortha Peters was there for the interception along the Seahawks sidelines to close things out.

The big loss from this game is cornerback DeAndre Elliott, who suffered a very bad leg injury in the 2nd quarter. Elliott was carted off, air cast around his leg, and his season is probably over.

Up next: Roster cuts on September 2nd, then the regular season starts on September 10th against the Green Bay Packers.