OAKLAND, Calif. — Art Shell's first game coaching in Oakland gave Raiders' fans plenty to cheer about.
Aaron Brooks threw an 8-yard touchdown pass to Doug Gabriel on Oakland's opening drive, and Andrew Walter led two second-half scoring drives to lead the Raiders to a 23-7 victory over the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday night.
Oakland improved to 3-0 in preseason under Shell, who was brought back to return the team to its glory days after three straight losing seasons. Shell won two Super Bowls as a Hall of Fame tackle with the Raiders and led the team to three playoff berths in 4 1/2 seasons as coach when the team played in Los Angeles.
The Raiders struggled in their first two preseason wins but put together a much more complete performance against their cross-bay rivalries, scoring on five of their first eight drives and holding the Niners scoreless until the final minutes.
After completing only one pass in each of Oakland's first two exhibition games, Brooks came out looking sharp, completing an 11-yard pass to Gabriel on his first play.
He was 4-for-5 for 42 yards on the 75-yard drive and also had a 25-yard scramble. He was helped out when Mike Adams dropped a potential interception at the goal line three plays before the TD pass to Gabriel.
Brooks relied heavily on his tight ends, completing two passes to Courtney Anderson and three to Randal Williams, including a 39-yarder that set up Sebastian Janikowski's 23-yard field goal at the end of the half.
Brooks, who finished 10-for-17 for 125 yards, also had problems at times. He used two timeouts in the first quarter, missed a wide-open Alvis Whitted on a deep pass to end Oakland's second drive, threw an interception in the end zone in the second quarter and botched a handoff to LaMont Jordan that nearly led to another turnover.
Walter, who completed just 44.8 percent of his passes the first two preseason games, went 8-for-9 for 99 yards as he led scoring drives on both of his possessions.
Justin Fargas scored on a 3-yard run to camp the first drive and David Kimball kicked a 23-yard field goal to end the second drive.
Former Ute Alex Smith, who had a strong preseason opener, was not nearly as good in his second game. He began the game by throwing an off-target lateral to Bryan Gilmore that ended up as a 12-yard loss and ended his half by throwing a pass that was intercepted by Tyrone Poole.
Smith was intercepted earlier in the half by Raiders first-round pick Michael Huff, who left the game with an injured left ankle. Smith went 6-for-12 for 81 yards and two interceptions.
The Niners got their only score late in the fourth quarter on a 6-yard pass from Trent Dilfer to Michael Robinson. Dilfer ran over to the Oakland bench after the play and yelled something at his former Tampa Bay teammate, Warren Sapp. Dilfer got a personal foul for taunting, his second of the game.
SEAHAWKS 30, COLTS 17: At Indianapolis, Peyton Manning was nearly perfect in the first quarter. Seattle made sure the Colts' backups weren't even close the rest of the game.
Leonard Weaver rushed for one touchdown, Mike Green returned an interception for another score and Josh Brown kicked three field goals Sunday night, leading the defending NFC champion Seahawks to a 30-17 victory at Indianapolis.
The Colts have lost eight straight preseason games, including twice this season, and nine of their last 10 dating to 2004.
In a game that featured the NFL's last two MVPs — Manning and Shaun Alexander — for a little more than one quarter, the starters for both teams looked sharp.
Alexander ran five times for 20 yards, setting up the Seahawks' first scoring drive, and Matt Hasselbeck went 8-of-9 for 88 yards although he was sacked twice.
Manning was better, connecting on six of his first seven passes and producing a perfect 158.3 rating in the first quarter. He finished 6-of-9 for 140 yards with one touchdown and a 146.8 rating.
As usual, Manning and his teammates looked in midseason form early. They opened the game with a 78-yard scoring drive that ended with a nifty 30-yard TD pass to Reggie Wayne, and later Marvin Harrison made an incredible one-handed catch on the run for a 35-yard gain.
Seattle answered with a 30-yard field goal from Josh Brown.
Manning had the Colts in scoring position again on their second series, but Julian Peterson forced Ben Utecht to fumble at the Seahawks 11 and Michael Boulware recovered for Seattle.
The game also had a definite preseason look to it. The Colts tried a fake punt and an onside kick, while Seattle scored on a fumble recovery in the end zone. By the end, only a smattering of fans remained in their seats.
From the middle of the second quarter, however, it was all Seattle.
Peter Warrick's 25-yard punt return put the Seahawks at the Colts 40, and Weaver scored five plays later to give Seattle a 10-7 lead.
Manning's backup, Jim Sorgi entered the game on the ensuing series, but was hit hard on each of his first two passes. The second fluttered toward the sideline where Green picked it off and ran it back 18 yards to give Seattle a 17-7 lead.
Sorgi left the game with an injury to his throwing shoulder and did not return. The Colts did not give an immediate injury update.
Brown made it 20-7 after hitting a 39-yard field goal as time ran out in the half and the teams traded field goals in the third quarter to give the Seahawks a 23-10 lead.
Seattle's final score came on a typical preseason play — center Chris Spencer recovered Weaver's fumble in the end zone early in the fourth quarter to make it 30-10.
And the Colts got a 1-yard run from Tony Hollings to make it 30-17 with 7:33 left.
Both teams were missing a handful of starters.
The Colts played without defensive tackle Montae Reagor, cornerback Jason David, safeties Mike Doss and Bob Sanders and guard Ryan Lilja. Also out was Indy's third receiver Brandon Stokley.
The Seahawks were missing defensive tackle Rocky Bernard, defensive end Grant Wistrom, Pro Bowl linebacker Lofa Tatupu, tight end Jerramy Stevens and receiver Darrell Jackson.
Notes: The Colts distributed 56,596 tickets, their highest total for a preseason game in 20 years. Indy had 57,969 on Aug. 30, 1986, a 23-20 loss to Minnesota. ... Colts backup running back James Mungro left in the third quarter with what appeared to be a leg injury in the third quarter. He did not return. ... Weaver carried 14 times for 51 yards for Seattle.