SEATTLE, Washington – A not-so-hot take from the Raiders' preseason-opening 23-23 draw at the Seahawks Thursday night?
Tackling, albeit, wrapping and tackling will be a major point of emphasis in camp going forward.
As well as taking the proper angles when setting up for the tackle and setting the edge on defense.
Other than that?
"We started really poorly," Raiders coach Pete Carroll said, matter-of-factly. "We had a really hard time. … It was a miserable-looking first quarter."
A first quarter that, yes, featured starters playing for the Raiders. On both sides of the ball.
"We didn't run the ball very well in the first half," Carroll continued. "We really didn't do much of anything very well. But we stayed close."
And therein lies the glass being half full for the perpetually effervescent Carroll, even as his face said something else entirely different when Daniel Carlson's 55-yard field-goal attempt to win the game at the final gun was blocked.
Yes, it was just a preseason game. And, sure, these exhibitions are used more for evaluation than racking up stats or wins.
But Carroll liked what he saw in the fight from his back-ups and third-stringers against the Seahawks' backups and third-stringers.
Guys like undrafted rookie defensive tackle Treven Ma'ae, who blocked a point-after attempt and had a huge fourth-quarter sack of Seahawks rookie quarterback Jalen Milroe.
"I'm proud of what I put on today," Ma'ae said. "There are things to clean up. Some plays I wish I could have back. I'm just proud of the finish."
Guys like second-year running back Dylan Laube, who had 40 offensive yards on six touches, including a six-yard TD catch, returned two punts for 20 yards and had a clutch shoe-string tackle on punt coverage.
"With Coach Carroll, he says he wants everyone to set the tone and bring the juice every single day, and that was my role, to bring that juice," Laube said. "Today, I brought the juice, too. It's fun."