Starters' struggles overshadow Cardinals' second-half rally

OAKLAND, Calif. -- Even though Carson Palmer spent much of the first half on his back and running from the Oakland defense, Arizona coach Bruce Arians is not concerned about his offensive line.

Palmer was sacked three times and threw two interceptions before the Cardinals rallied in the second half to beat the Raiders 30-23 on Sunday night when Marion Grice ran for an 11-yard score with 31 seconds left.

"Pass protection is not an issue," Arians said. "We've got to do a better job of getting the ball out of our hands sometimes. I thought we held it a little bit longer today."

Palmer struggled against his former team as he was under pressure for most of the first half. Palmer was 8 for 22 for 103 yards and was intercepted twice by Nate Allen. Palmer also was sacked three times, including twice by Khalil Mack.

"Out of sync," Palmer said. "Just wasn't good enough. We expect to be able to go down and score every drive. Obviously you don't always do that, but for us to not go down and score points is disappointing."

The Raiders (1-2) got five field goals from Sebastian Janikowski in the first half but didn't get into the end zone until Matt McGloin led an 83-yard drive late in the fourth quarter. He capped it with a 4-yard TD pass to Kris Durham with 2:18 left and Oakland tied the game when McGloin connected with Brice Butler on the 2-point conversion.

"As an offense we're pretty upset right now," starting quarterback Derek Carr said. "We want to score a lot of points. We felt like we left a lot out there and we did."

Logan Thomas answered by leading the winning drive with help from a 38-yard pass to Ifeanyi Momah.

It was a costly game for the Raiders, who lost starting right tackle Menelik Watson to a ruptured Achilles.

"That's a tough break for us," coach Jack Del Rio said. "It's really unfortunate. He was having a great camp for us."

The game turned on the opening drive of the second half when Carr tried to throw the ball way on a screen pass deep in Cardinals territory only to have it end up right in Cariel Brooks' arms. Brooks ran untouched 81 yards for the score that ended Carr's night.

Cardinals: Backup Drew Stanton fared well against Oakland's starting defense, going 8 for 9 for 58 yards in his only drive. He capped it with an 8-yard TD pass to David Johnson.

Raiders: Carr finished 18 for 34 for 213 yards but was unable to lead the Raiders into the end zone. McGloin was 11 for 15 for 114 yards in his late-game action.

Cardinals: Phillip Sims looked good on his one drive, going 3 for 4 for 29 yards with the 10-yard TD pass to Kerwynn Williams. The undrafted rookie from Winston-Salem is trying to earn a spot as the third QB for Arizona.

Raiders: Amari Cooper had four catches for 62 yards, including a 36-yarder against Arizona star Patrick Peterson. Second-round pick Mario Edwards Jr. had two sacks.

Both teams struggled to run the ball with their starting offenses. Andre Ellington was held to 19 yards on nine carries for Arizona, while Latavius Murray had 1 yard on seven carries for Oakland.

Cardinals: RB Chris Johnson did not play as he is nursing a hamstring injury. Johnson has yet to play this preseason after being signed during camp by Arizona.

Raiders: DE Justin Tuck and TE Clive Walford did not dress for the Raiders as they nurse undisclosed injuries.

During a trivia contest in the first half, two fans wrote "Stay in Oakland" for their answers and were taken off the video board. The Raiders are playing on a one-year lease at the Coliseum and are in talks with the San Diego Chargers about building a new stadium near Los Angeles in Carson.

Cardinals: "I felt like I needed to make a big play so I can have a chance to make this team," Brooks said.

Raiders: "I made a mistake. I'll learn from that obviously. The timing wasn't there. Just throw it away and play the next down," Carr said.