The Oakland Raiders opened the season losing to the New York Jets, in a game where they gave up 212 yards rushing on 34 attempts, an average of 6.2 yards per carry. In week two the Raiders lost 30-14 to the Houston Texans, and conceded 189 yards rushing on 46 attempts, an average of 4.1 yards per rush. In two weeks, the team has given up 401 rushing yards and this is with a reworked front seven that was supposed to be an improvement on last season. While the Raiders certainly have other issues, giving up this much yardage on the ground is the most pressing if they are going to get some wins.
Raiders can’t stop the run. Fall to 0-2
“I’m a little surprised because that’s been an area that we’ve been fairly decent at over the last couple of years. We’ve faced a couple of good backs the first two weeks of the season but it all starts up front with our ability to stop the run and we have to do a better job of stopping the run” said Coach Dennis Allen after the loss to Houston.
Being unable to stop the run also makes the pass rushing skills of Lamar Woodley, Justin Tuck, Antonio Smith, and prized rookie Khalil Mack non-existent. To be able to effectively put pressure on the quarterback, the other team needs to be put in passing situations. When teams are running for 6.2 and 4.1 yards per carry, the other team is seldom put in an obvious passing situation where the defensive line can pin back their ears and not worry about the run. Consistent first and second down run production, and leaving opposing offenses in third and short situations is hurting the Raiders ability to generate a consistent pass rush.
Defensive end LaMarr Woodley spoke about the issues following the game “The thing is if you want to be a good pass rushing team defense, if you want to go out there and you want to get a lot of sacks, if you want to force some turnovers or allow the secondary to get some interceptions, you number one have to stop the run. In order for our good pass rushers to have that opportunity, you have to make a team one-dimensional. Right now, we’re not making any team one-dimensional. We’re allowing them to have two options, run and pass. So we have to make the corrections up front and make tackles, get them in third-and-long. Those are the things you have to do first. You have to stop the run in order for you to see the good pass rush that we have. But until you stop the run, you will never see that good pass rush.”
The offense has felt the effects of a poor run defense as well. Time of possession over the first two games has been 73 minutes for the opposition to just 47 minutes for the Raiders. Interceptions and fumbles have cost the offense dearly, especially versus the Texans in week two, but if the Raiders defense can’t get off the field, then the offense won’t have many opportunities to put points on the board.
The reasons for the poor run defense can be many, ranging from the players taking wrong angles, filling the wrong gaps, or just simply missing tackles. Maybe Defensive Coordinator Jason Tarver is just in over his head. Regardless of the reason it needs to be corrected soon.
Charles Woodson’s assessment of the current Raiders team speaks volumes. “We’re not very good. We’re not very good and they executed. That’s about as simple as you can be.” On the team’s performance versus Houston he added “We sucked today.”
Raider fans will surely agree with Woodson and things must change soon, or they will be digging themselves a deep hole for the 2014 season.
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