Four weeks into the season, the Las Vegas Raiders have a single victory to their credit. The defense has tried its best to right the ship, but they are still plagued by some typical ‘same old Raiders’ nonsense. At times seemingly unable to get out of their own way. And, at others, getting the ball back for the offense at crucial times.
Total Rankings For The 2023 Raiders Defense
- 3rd in first downs by penalties (13)
- 13th fewest penalty yards (192)
- 14th in missed tackles (28)
- 18th total yards allowed (1348)
- 18th-fewest total plays (255)
- 19th in first downs surrendered (84)
- 20th yards per play (5.3)
- 21st in total penalties (24)
- 24th total points (101)
- 30th in sacks (7)
- 30th in QBKD (8)
- 31st in pressures (23)
- 31st in turnovers (1)
Starting the season with a soft zone coverage scheme and a light six-man box, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham was trending towards a hot seat. After surrendering 38 points to the Buffalo Bills in Week 2 — and undoubtedly hearing the calls for his head — Graham has been coaching his ass off by placing his guys in position to make impact plays. Graham has been more aggressive, mixed up his coverages, and activated pass rushers at the second and third levels. Remarkably, the Vegas defense has improved in nearly every way in the past two weeks.
However, he can not finish the plays for them. At least five times in the last three weeks, we have seen defenders squared up in front of the quarterback with no one in between them, get shaken out of their jock straps, and blow a sack. Fundamental issues such as not committing stupid mental mistakes like jumping offsides and hitting guys out of bounds are outside of Graham’s control.
Miscues bordering on the comical include blitzing linebackers and cut-blocking defensive ends with clear paths to the quarterback. Linebackers going face mask to face mask with quarterbacks and not tackling them. Attempts at stripping the ball from the ball carrier were unsuccessful and yielded an additional five to 10 yards. The list goes on and on.
How Has Vegas Faired In The Passing Game?
- 4th-lowest DADOT (6.8)
- 6th-most passing tds (8)
- 7th in total air yards (417)
- 7th-fewest passes attempted (123)
- 13th-fewest passes completed (87)
- 13th in passing yards (811)
- 15th-fewest passing first downs (44)
- 20th in yards after the catch (436)
- 26th in pass completion percentage (70.7)
- 29th in QB rating (108.2)
Pass coverage numbers are more than slightly skewed for the Raiders. In the first two weeks of the season, Graham was essentially using the prevent defense with an extra down lineman. No cornerback was ever within nine yards of the line of scrimmage after taking his first step. The soft zone basically encourages the quarterback to continue to chip away on underneath passes and eliminates anything deep.
The problem lies in the fact that without premier covering linebackers — or a ferocious pass rush capable of getting home with only the down lineman — there will be problems, as evidenced by the DADOT (defensive average depth of target), quarterback rating, and completion percentage. Teams are receiving between five to seven yards in the cushioned area gifted by the defensive play-caller.
Safeties in coverage have been a sigh of relief as of late. Graham has tightened up his coverage in the center of the field significantly. Former TCU Horned Frog Tre’von Moehrig logged the first interception of the season, but Roderic Teamer was the first to pick off a quarterback even though a penalty nullified the play. The red zone is where coverage continues to fall apart, as quarterbacks extend plays with their legs and force the defenders to chase pass catchers. The main issue in coverage has been on the outside short routes.
The Pressing Issue
Rookie Jakorian Bennett has taken his fair share of rookie lumps in coverage. Currently, he’s allowing a completion rate of 80 percent, an average DADOT of 11.2 yards, plus the seventh most yards in the league (247). Marcus Peters hasn’t performed much better, considering he has been lining up at nine to ten yards off the ball every play.
However, both Bennett and Peters have proven to be much more effective players when pressing the receiver. Peters has gotten two hands on the football in consecutive weeks, having dropped a pick-six against the Pittsburgh Steelers and dropped an interception in the endzone against the Chargers. Bennett has been inexplicably lined up tight in run support but not much in pass coverage. The way the two corners have been deployed is more about acclimating to the scheme instead of the defense being tailored to their unique abilities.
When allowed to get their hands on the receiver early, they disrupt the route timing, and in Peters’ case, he’s created turnover opportunities for himself. Another benefit to pressing is the disguise factor to your defense. Simply not having coverages deciphered at the line of scrimmage by a high school-caliber quarterback will go a long way. So will stiffening up against the running game.
Patrick Graham Needs More From The Run Stoppers
- 7th-most yards per game (134.3)
- 8th-most rushing yards (537)
- 9th-most rushing attempts (125)
- 19th in yards per carry (4.3)
- 20th in rushing touchdowns (4)
Execution, tackling, and finishing are crucial. A deficiency in any of these is problematic, but constant inconsistency across all of them is not setting a winning standard. These numbers are a direct reflection of piss-poor tackling. It’s evident in the way a vast majority of NFL defenders throw their bodies into the hit and the runner. That may be easy to say from the comforts of my couch, but anyone who has watched can see it plain as day. Wrapping up and taking a man to the ground is a technique seldom practiced the old-fashioned way anymore.
Subpackages may account for 85 percent of the defensive personnel, but not many of the formations deployed by Graham have three or four linebackers on the field at any time. Not to mention — in order to acquire the speed necessary to cover tight ends and running backs — the Raiders opted for undersized, faster linebackers. Most are either converted defensive backs or undrafted free agents light in the rear.
Defensively, the formations they are running point to the main issue of not being big enough to stop the run effectively for 60 minutes. John Jenkins and Adam Butler Jr. have proven to be the best tandem of run-stoppers the Raiders have thus far. But, as a whole, the defensive line is getting dominated when teams run at the edges. When Vegas has either of them off the field, then all bets are off. Any fronts involving a nickelbacker in the “linebacker position” are good at attacking the ball carrier with quick, free looks. It falters when they have to fight off blockers and make the tackle, which happens a lot.
Conversion-Rate For The Raiders Defense
- 18th in 3rd downs attempted (53)
- 21st in 3rd downs converted (23)
- 23rd in 3rd down conversion % (43.4)
- 18th in 4th down attempts (6)
- 21st in 4th downs conversion % (66.7)
- 27th in 4th downs converted (4)
- 24th in red zone attempts (15)
- 28th in redzone tds (11)
- 28th in red zone conversion % (73.3)
Maxx Crosby is the heart and soul of this defense; they will go as far as he can lead them. Crosby has had a phenomenal start of his own, recording two sacks against Justin Herbert and the Los Angeles Chargers, before logging one against the Denver Broncos and the Pittsburgh Steelers. That is a sack in every week of the season except Week 2, plus six quarterback hits and four tackles for loss. He’s on pace for 16 sacks, 24 (or more) quarterback hits, with at least 16 tackles for loss on top. He can’t do it alone, but he has help.
Robert Spillane and Divine Deablo have been a little bit of everything for the Raiders in 2023. Whether it be rushing the quarterback, dropping back into coverage, or stopping the run — these men have been everywhere. Spillane and Deablo are the leading and second-leading tacklers on the team. Both are on pace to achieve 120+ combined tackles apiece. As impressive as that is, it’s the tackles they don’t make which are the ones that carry the largest impact on the game.
As much as Graham is moving them all over the place and in a position to make plays, they need to finish at the quarterback and behind the line of scrimmage. For all the success they have found, the duo needs to do a little bit more. Convert all sack opportunities and not prevent others from converting their sack and tackle for loss opportunities would be welcomed by Graham and Co.
Rookie Watch: Are Any First-Year Players Sticking Out?
Tyree Wilson is gaining traction and developing every week and by quite a bit. While predominantly silent on the stat sheet against the Chargers, Wilson’s play was anything but quiet. He took it to Rashawn Slater numerous times. The Texas Tech product also significantly shortened his get-off times to get into the backfield and alter the path of the ball carriers. Mentally, the game is slowing down for him; you can tell by how much faster he is playing.
So far, the rookie’s most effective application has been crashing down on the tackle from the edge in a Wide-9 formation. His speed-to-power conversion is devastating and allows him to maintain a solid outside leverage. Entering Week 5, Wilson has recorded no sacks or quarterback hits and missed the highest percentage of tackles on the team (33.3%).
Byron Young, the Raiders’ third-round pick, has gotten some playing time early and has been unimpressive thus far. Nesta Jade Silvera made his rookie debut against the Chargers and had some impact, but overall, it was a tough outing against Zion Johnson. Amari Burney has yet to make an appearance on defense, while Chris Smith II has cracked the active roster but has yet to see significant playing time.
*Top Photo: Getty Images