For the first time in over a decade there is legitimate optimism that the Oakland Raiders will make the playoffs in 2016. To make the playoffs you have to win games, duh. How does this Raider’s team win games? In part one of this article, we’ll break down the fundamentals of how the Raiders can win games on defense. Winning on defense is fairly straightforward, stop the run, get to the quarterback and cover the receivers. However following this basic game plan can be prove troublesome if you don’t have the right players.
Oakland Raiders Defense Key In 2016 Playoff Push
Great Defenses Win Championships, Great Players Make a Defense Great
Deepest unit of the Raider’s roster? Defensive front seven, hands down. The front seven is full of flashy pass rushers, big strong defensive lineman, and rangy coverage linebackers capable of playing the run and pass. Utilized properly this a unit that can lead the league or at the very least be near the top of the list in sacks and be a sneaky top five run defense.
To win games, you must get to the quarterback as a defense. There is no doubt about that. If you give a signal caller all day to find the open receiver, you’ll be giving up points all day. How do you get to the quarterback? You stop the run.
Stopping the run has everything to do with being able to generate consistent pressure on the quarterback. Most 1st down plays are a run play or a screen. Screens are essentially long handoffs that more often than not picks up the same amount of yardage as a short run. The goal of an offense is to score touchdowns(duh) but to do that they have to be able to consistently pick up first downs. And to consistently pick up first downs, an offense must have manageable second and third down yardage, thus the high percentage screen plays and run plays that pick up 3-7 yards.
Stopping the Run
Now what does this have to do with creating pressure on the quarterback? Stopping the run and screen game puts offenses in uncomfortable situations. If a team has a strong and stout defensive line with the prerequisite size, that can eat and shed blocks (the Raiders do) with speedy inside backers that can flow to the ball and tackle (again, the Raiders do) then you can stop the run and screen game.
In a base 3-4 defense, which is what the Raiders run, the defensive line is there to occupy blockers so that the linebackers are free to make plays. To do this you need size and athleticism on the defensive line. Defensive tackles Dan Williams and Justin Ellis are a combined 665 pounds with enough versatility to slide over the guard or center. Defensive ends Mario Edwards Jr. and Jihad Ward are intriguing size and speed prospects that can hold up a tackle as well as shoot the gap and take care of the running back by themselves. The Raiders also have Khalil Mack who was graded as the best run stuffing linebacker/defensive end by Pro Football Focus two years in a row, so that also kind of helps in stopping an opponents run game.
Pressuring the Quarterback
Now once you’ve stopped the run, its time to get to the quarterback. Getting to the quarterback is easier the longer his drop back is. Quarterback drops are divided up into 3, 5, and 7 step drops. The longer the drop, the deeper the pass. Receivers are running deeper routes so the quarterback is waiting longer for them to get open thus giving the Raiders pass rush more time to get to him.
When a team is able to run the ball and pick up 3-7 yards on first and second down, the offense doesn’t need a big play. A quick strike dink and dunk passing attack paired with a consistent run game will shred a defense and most importantly keep the time of possession on their side, keeping your own offense off the field. What makes stopping the run and taking away the quick strike passing game all the more important is the fact that the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs run these kinds of offenses and if you want to win the division you must beat the teams in the division.
Back to the quarterback. Stopping the run puts offenses in third and long. Alex Smith and Trevor Siemian/Mark Sanchez now have to sit in the pocket and wait for the receivers to get open, and then deliver a strike. All with Mack, Bruce Irvin and the rest of the d-line coming in hot. Smith and Sanchez have shown over the course of their careers that they struggle when put in third and long, and Siemian is a greenhorn that will almost certainly have trouble picking up first downs in third and long pressure situations.
Versatility
What makes this all the more troubling for offensives is the versatility of the Raiders defensive line. Getting to the quarterback is just as much about match ups as it is forcing third and long. The defensive line is actually about playing offense on defense. On offense, the passing game is predicating on exposing a defense’s weakest link. You put your best receiver in a matchup with a team’s worst cornerback and let him go to work. Creating pressure match ups follows the same principal. Now, Mack isn’t J.J. Watt in terms of ability to play defensive end, defensive tackle, or nose tackle. However Mack and Bruce Irvin can line up against either tackle as well as drop back into coverage.
Blitz Schemes
Malcolm Smith and Ben Heeney have shown they have the speed and power to be capable blitzers from the inside. Edwards, Ellis, Williams, and Ward have the ability to play anywhere on the defensive front in passing downs. Great, what does this mean? It means that defensive coordinator Ken Norton not only can move players around to give them the best possible match ups thus exposing opponents’ offensive line’s weakest links, but come up with some creative zone blitzes because of Smith and Heeney’s ability to blitz and Mack and Irvin’s abilities to drop back and cover. This all bodes well for a defense that has been gifted a brand new secondary.
The Raiders weakest link in 2015 was their porous secondary. It was very, very bad. This year, they’ve flipped the script. General manager Reggie McKenzie added big time Free Agents; cornerback Sean Smith and safety Reggie Nelson and drafted safety Karl Joseph in the first round of the 2015 draft. That’s a heavy investment in the secondary. If the Raiders are to stop the run, get to the QB, and ultimately win enough games to get to the big dance, this group needs to pay off.
Coverage Scheme
As complex as the Raiders front seven schemes may be, their coverage will be anything but complex. While Head Coach Jack Del Rio may love moving his big strong toys around up front it’s unlikely he’ll change his secondary philosophy. In his first season as head coach of the Raiders, Del Rio ran a very vanilla scheme in terms of coverage. More often than not the Raiders ran a base cover three press zone or cover one man with a single high safety over the top; and everyone else playing straight up. This left the strong safety able to come up and defense the run; as well as defend the intermediate passing game. Very rarely would they disguise their coverage or show the offense something else.
This kind of system is easier on the defensive backs to learn allowing them to play rather than think. It puts defenders in a position to react and play fast. The downside is that if you don’t have enough talent, teams will simply let their best players beat your defenders. In 2015 this was the case, the Raiders simply did not have enough talent in the defensive backfield for this to work consistently. This year the Raiders believe the opposite will be true due to their aggressive work in shoring up the back end.
Overall
If the Raiders can stop the run, get to the quarterback, and cover the opponent’s receivers, the defense will win its match ups. As complex as football can be, a winning defensive game plan can still be boiled down to those three basic steps. For a team to succeed on defense it needs the right players, and the Raiders have them. Making the playoffs is about winning games. To win games you must win on defense as well as offense. The Raiders can certainly win on defense.
Check out the look at the Offense Here.
