Raise your hand if you predicted defense would be the Las Vegas Raiders’ calling card during the 2023 campaign.
Oh, you did? Now swiftly bring that same hand down and sharply across your face. That’s penance for lying.
But here we are, with the Raiders defense ranked ninth in the NFL with 259 points allowed this season. The New York Jets are ahead of them, allowing 257 points, while the New Orleans Saints are behind the Silver and Black, allowing 261 (more on this below, later). The last time the Raiders were in the top 10 in the points allowed category was in 2002, when the Bill Callahan Raiders went 11-5 and sported the sixth-ranked unit with 304 points given up. That squad had good ol’ Chuck Bresnahan as the defensive boss.
To find a ranking similar to this, look back to the 1990 Raiders (12-4), whose defense under Art Shell’s defensive coordinator Dave Adolph had the seventh-ranked unit in terms of points allowed (268).
So, defense being a Raiders calling card has been few and far between, suffice it to say.
Patrick Graham has proven to be all about that action in his second season as defensive coordinator for the current iteration of the Desert Marauders. He’s gone from much-mocked to much-beloved coach after he helmed the 26th and 28th-ranked defensive units in points and yards allowed in 2022. This season, the Raiders are the 16th-ranked group in yards yielded, at 4,356.
“Patrick Graham has done a great job of that. I mean, you’ve seen different looks by us, four D-ends out there, a little bit more man coverage, more press,” Raiders interim head coach Antonio Pierce said during his Wednesday morning media availability. “It’s there to see, and these guys have bought in, and they understand.”
“This organization I know loves to score points, but damn it, you win championships with defense,” Pierce added.
Yes, the age-old adage does say defensive wins championships. But unless Las Vegas’ defense starts generating more takeaways that result in points (pick sixes and scoop-and-scores on fumbles) or creating safeties, the offense needs to get in gear and help out.
Zero points…
Bo Hardegree’s side of the ball generated zero points in the Raiders’ Week 14 3-0 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, and Las Vegas has the 28th-ranked unit in points scored (202, which drops to 196 if you take away Marcus Peters pick six) and the 29th-ranked group in yards gained (3,610).
“Listen, it’s been a rough stretch for our offense; we get it, and it’s a team effort. You need your special teams to play well; you need defense to play well, and we’re going to be grinding with our offense, and at some point, boom, it’ll click,” Pierce noted. “It did for us in the Giants game. At some point, there will be an explosion. We’ve got really good football players. We need to execute at a higher level, but when you see the defense go out there and perform the way they’re doing, giving us opportunities to win games and keep us in games, that makes you very proud.”
Raiders owner Mark Davis is well aware of the situation he’s put both Pierce and Hardegree in and provided some levity in an interview with The Athletic’s Tashan Reed, who wrote a solid piece. The owner is keenly aware that both Pierce and Hardegree are rookies in their respective roles as interim head honcho and interim offensive coordinator, and they’ve got rookie quarterback Aidan O’Connell at the helm of the offense.
“I put a lot of stress and pressure on that side of the football,” Davis told Reed. “And so, as the results haven’t been there, you have to understand why there might not be results. Those are things I understand and go into the evaluation process of where the team is.”
Mark Davis is fully aware of the Raiders’ struggles
Davis aptly stated, “It’s flipped on its head” regarding the resurgence on defense and regression on offense. And it just goes to spotlight how egregious the mistake at quarterback was between the Patriot Twins former general manager Dave Ziegler and Josh McDaniels. The inability to find a suitable replacement for Derek Carr at the all-important quarterback position has led to this outcome. I highly doubt DC4 still being in Silver and Black makes a difference. He has a Top 10 defense at his disposal in New Orleans, and that team is 6-7 overall.
Going back to Reed’s piece, there’s really good insight from Davis on who had the final say on roster decisions, so if you have access, give it a read. Hint: Davis said McDaniels wasn’t the autocrat and ultimate say as other pieces made him out to be.
Return of the Mack
Los Angeles Chargers pass rusher Khalil Mack leads the league in sacks with 15, and a whopping six of those quarterback takedowns were against his former team, the Raiders, back in Week 4. Undoubtedly, Mack heads into Allegiant Stadium looking to teabag the team that traded him.
“We’re going to have to do more than we did last time. He likes playing against the Raiders; we know that. He has really good games against the Raiders,” Pierce noted. “And maybe that first matchup didn’t go our way. I wasn’t part of that game plan, but I think the focus, the energy, and what our O-line and our staff have put together—hopefully, it’s a plan that works. Obviously, we can’t hold on to the ball.”
That initial matchup early in the season was O’Connell’s first full start, and it resulted in a 24-17 loss. The rookie did hold on to the ball too long—it’s something he’s doing now, which isn’t surprising for a neophyte—allowing Mack to get sack after sack.
“Yeah, obviously he’s been doing this for a long time. He’s a really great player,” O’Connell said of Mack during the quarterback’s Tuesday press conference. “They have great players throughout the entire field. It’s going to be a great challenge for us. We’re going to have to play really well and do our jobs well. It’s my responsibility to make sure we can move the ball down the field as an offense.”
*Top Photo: Courtesy of Dailymotion