Starting QB a coin toss

SEATTLE -- Josh McCown and Daunte Culpepper got plenty of chances to decide the Raiders' quarterback competition Thursday night at Qwest Field. McCown played halfway into the second quarter, and Culpepper played midway into the fourth. But when it was over and the Raiders had lost, 19-14, to even their exhibition record at 2-2, coach Lane Kiffin had not chosen his starter for the regular-season opener.

Kiffin, in fact, said he had no timetable for making a decision, and indicated he might wait until the Lions come to town on Sept. 9 to reveal his starter -- better to keep his opponent off-balance as they game-plan.

"I know this, I feel real confident in both of them," Kiffin said. "I think both of 'em could be our quarterback and put us in position to win games. . . . Daunte and Josh have one thing in common, they really are exciting competitors on game day."

McCown completed 5-of-12 passes for 75 yards and made some nice moves to get away from the rush. But he didn't lead Kiffin's offense to a single point. "Anytime you go out and you don't get points on the board, you kind of hate it," he said afterward.

The Raiders might have had a couple of field goals in the first half if regular kicker Sebastian Janikowski had played.

Culpepper did a bit better. But after his first series, McCown actually had the edge on the scoreboard. That's because on Culpepper's second play from scrimmage, defensive end Darryl Tapp led a swarm of Seahawks who buried running back Dominic Rhodes in the end zone for a safety.

It wasn't until Culpepper's fourth possession, in the third quarter, that he got warmed up, and it must have come as a relief to Kiffin. After a 2-yard scramble and a holding penalty on tight end O.J. Santiago, Culpepper completed 7-of-8 passes for 86 yards -- including a pair of 17-yard strikes to Travis Taylor -- in driving the Raiders for a touchdown. He finished it by rolling right and hitting tight end James Adkisson for the score on a play where he just as easily could have run it in.

Culpepper played halfway into the fourth quarter and later threw an interception to mar his statistics (he finished 11-of-19 for 108 yards), but the 10-play, 64-yard scoring drive provided the dominant image on a night that was otherwise lackluster.

"I did some good things, and there were some things that I would like to have back," Culpepper said. "Definitely the last play. I got a little greedy, and that is the only thing glaring at me right now."

All in all, the Oakland offense wasn't a whole lot better than the last time it played on this field -- a 16-0 defeat by the Seahawks on Nov. 6. The Raiders generated 259 yards of total offense and didn't get any offensive points other than Culpepper's drive. Their other score came on Johnnie Lee Higgins' 90-yard punt return in the first quarter.

Seattle, meanwhile, scored touchdowns on Seneca Wallace's six-yard touchdown pass to Nate Burleson in front of safety Hiram Eugene in the second quarter, and on Marquise Weeks' 11-yard run in the fourth. Josh Brown added a 33-yard field goal.

You can reach Staff Writer Phil Barber at 526-8672 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com.