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Expect A Big Game From The Oakland Raiders Defense

By Jonathan George

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As the Oakland Raiders attempt to prepare for the visiting Baltimore Ravens this week, they have to take as many positives as they can from both their previous game, as well as the Ravens previous game. In other words, what did the silver-and-black do well, and what weaknesses does Baltimore have that Oakland can potentially expose?

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While there probably isn’t a large amount of positives to take away from week 1 when you look at the Raiders performance against Cincinnati, there are a few big signs from both Baltimore and Oakland that point to the Raiders having a nice bounce back game defensively.

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For the Raiders, specifically their defensive group, you might be surprised at how well several of their key players performed despite the fact that they gave up over 30 points last Sunday.

For example, second year cornerback T.J. Carrie was the third highest rated cornerback when it came to pass coverage in week one in the NFL amongst all cornerbacks, per profootballfocus.com. His +3.5 rating was only slightly behind Denver’s Aqib Talib and Buffalo’s Stephon Gilmore.

What about the Raider front seven? Justin Tuck was the highest rated defensive end in any 3-4 system when it came to rushing the passer and defending the run. Khalil Mack? Just outside the top 5 overall for all NFL linebackers. And interior lineman Dan Williams was the second highest rated at his position overall.

The best news when it comes to positive takeaways for week 2 is how poorly the Baltimore Ravens offensive line performed per pff.com. Of the 5 starting Ravens linemen that played Sunday against the Broncos, 4 of them were negatively rated, and three of those four were rated in the bottom 3 at their respective positions (specifically both tackles James Hurst and Ricky Wagner, and left guard Kelechi Osemele).

The Oakland Raiders must come into week 2 with some definite expectations that their front seven should be putting serious pressure on Baltimore’s offense. In last weeks game, the Broncos recorded 9 quarterback hits on Joe Flacco, and Denver’s defense grabbed 7 tackles for loss. They also grabbed 2 picks including 1 for a touchdown while keeping the rejuvenated Steve Smith Sr. at bay all day with 2 catches for a measly 13 yards.

Sure, the Denver Broncos defense is good, and a one week sample in terms of both the Ravens and Raiders performance is tough to use to project future results. But the fact remains that past results tend to predict future success or failure, and the Raiders should be angry with the way they performed in an opening day game of a season that holds a lot of hope for fans in Oakland.

They have to come into this game with a chip on the collective shoulders regardless of the favorable match-ups; a struggling Baltimore offensive line should only provide more incentive to turn up the intensity and stack some sacks. Paging Aldon Smith?

For the Raiders, the 20,000 pound elephant in the room is the fear that losing this game drops them to 0-2, a statistical 50 foot wall historically for teams attempting to make the playoffs. The fact that their defense should feast on a sub par Ravens front five and their sputtering star wide receiver has to be the foundation Oakland uses to propel themselves back into early contention in the AFC. With Denver’s win against K.C. on Thursday night, the Raiders don’t have a ton of wiggle room if they can’t rebound in week 2.

Next: What went wrong in week 1 for Oakland?

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