SEATTLE - The Raiders finished the exhibition season 1-3. But the two most important losses weren't games.
They were wide receiver Drew Carter and fullback Oren O'Neal, both out for the season with knee injuries.
That's why the Raiders sat all their starters on offense and defense in a 23-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Friday night at Qwest Field.
The game wasn't about winning. It was about getting back home without any significant players injured.
"Very successful," said Raiders coach Kiffin. "Nobody got hurt today. A couple of guys had little things, but if it were the regular season, they could have kept playing."
Darren McFadden provided runs of 24 and 23 yards while breaking tackles to give the Raiders a glimpse of what might be in the regular season.
"That was good to see and then get him out of there before anything happened to him," Kiffin said.
McFadden was the biggest name to play for the Raiders.
Kiffin has kept it simple in the exhibition season with the fourth overall pick in the 2008 NFL draft.
Most of his runs have been simple - up the middle, off tackle or a toss to the outside - but he has impressed Kiffin.
"You see it every day in practice, but when you see it out there in the game ... it looks great," said quarterback Andrew Walter. "But there's certainly things we've kept in our pocket."
Still, Kiffin would have loved to see McFadden break an even bigger play.
"You'd wish one of those (runs) would pop just to see him in the real open field and the chance to really run away," Kiffin said. " ... Just to see that breakaway speed that he has, but we'll wait to see until the regular season."
The Raiders scored on three Sebastian Janikowski field goals and a 25-yard touchdown catch by rookie fullback Marcel Reece from Marques Tuiasosopo.
Reece is one of many Raiders trying to leave a lasting impression before today's final roster cuts.
Twenty-two players must be let go.
"(Reece) is very explosive with the ball, and he made a great play on the touchdown there," Kiffin said.
Reece, a converted wide receiver, said he was going through "end-zone withdrawal."
"I didn't get many plays today, but I feel that on the plays that I had, I did my best," Reece said.
One player on the bubble, wide receiver Todd Watkins, slowed up on a route that would have been a touchdown in the first quarter.
He'll have to wait until today to learn his fate.
"I'm debating whether to go to Sacramento to be with my girlfriend and my baby or just stay (in Oakland) and weather the storm," Watkins said.
Sounds like this game mattered to a few people.
Read Jason Jones' Raiders blog at www.sacbee.com/ raidersblog.
