There was a silver lining the Oakland Raiders' loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Terrelle Pryor. If Raiders fans can feel good about one thing, it is the young quarterback's ability to be a playmaker on the field. The more experience Pryor continues to get, the better he looks. There are no moral victories in the NFL, but the Raiders might be on to something.
Oakland played far better than anyone was expecting. While they did lose 21-17 to the Colts, it was a better performance than originally expected from the young team. However, keeping the game close was not enough for running back Darren McFadden who stressed the team could have won in the end.
"I feel like we played well, but there's no moral victories in this league," McFadden said, via CSNBayArea.com. "You have to go out there and win on the scoreboard. We did a lot of good things out there. We made some mistakes that we can come back and correct next week. The key is to keep building."
Building is exactly what the Raiders are doing and it is working. At this moment, Pryor leads the NFL in rushing. The quarterback finished the day going 19 of 29 for 217 yards in passing while rushing for 112 yards on 13 carries. That is the exact reason the Raiders opted to start him over veteran Matt Flynn. Pryor played the entire game and was a big reason the score was so close.
"This result wasn't accepted by anyone," Pryor said. "I expect everyone on this team to be very critical of themselves. We all need to look inside and find out what we can do better. I hate losing. Period. We need to find ways to win."
The 24-year old's rushing yards were a franchise record. He threw for a touchdown to Denarius Moore, while setting up two other scoring drives. He kept plays moving with his legs. He made smart decisions inside and outside the pocket. A lot of people have not been giving Oakland any credit heading into the season, but Pryor could make a believer out of some.
"There are a lot of people that don't think much of Terrelle Pryor and don't think much of this team," cornerback Charles Woodson said. "We made some plays and we showed well. When you get that close, though, you have to finish the job. In the future, we will."
The Colts certainly noticed what kind of talent Pryor is. He kept the Indianapolis defense on their toes the entire game. Veteran pass rusher Robert Mathis told reporters after the game that he felt as if he ran 5.3 miles during the game chasing after Pryor. Oakland will face Jacksonville next Sunday in their home opener.
