The Raiders had a top-10 scoring defense last season, added star tackle Christian Wilkins to the team, and initially dominated the Las Vegas offense during early training camp.
However, after playing two preseason games, their defense has not shown top-10 quality.
Coach Antonio Pierce has expressed concerns about the issues against the run and problems in the secondary, particularly during the 27-12 loss to Dallas on Saturday. Even though the Cowboys were using reserves, they were able to pass effectively against a Raiders defense that still had six starters on the field.
One reason for the struggles against the Cowboys was that the Raiders’ starting defensive line, which is a strong part of their defense and one of the best in the NFL, was not playing.
This meant backup quarterback Trey Lance had time to perform well, completing 15 of 23 passes for 151 yards, including one touchdown pass and one rushing touchdown.
Is this a cause for concern, or is it just a preseason game that may be quickly forgotten when the season starts on September 8 at the Los Angeles Chargers? The Raiders will finish their preseason schedule with a game against the San Francisco 49ers on Friday night.
“It’s just a building block,” cornerback Jack Jones said. “We keep going each week stacking brick by brick and day by day. Eventually, we’re going to build a brick wall where it’s unbreakable for us.”
This includes Jones learning from his mistake that allowed the Cowboys to score a touchdown. He got fooled by an inside fake from Ryan Flournoy near the goal line, who then went outside for the touchdown catch.
“It’s football. It happened,” Jones said. “I made the corrections. I had bad eyes. I was looking in the backfield. I never saw the receiver.”
Jones had a strong performance last season after the Raiders signed him following his release from the Patriots. He intercepted two passes in seven games, returning both for touchdowns.
In the first preseason game at Minnesota, Jones made a key play by intercepting a pass from Vikings quarterback J.J. McCarthy.
Jones is part of a secondary that also includes cornerback Nate Hobbs and safeties Tre’von Moehrig and Marcus Epps. Cornerback Jakorian Bennett, who was drafted in the fourth round last year from Maryland, is replacing Amik Robertson, who signed with Detroit.
This secondary helped the Raiders rank 11th last season in passing yards allowed per game, with an average of 212.4 yards.
However, the defensive line, led by Wilkins and edge rusher Maxx Crosby, has the potential to be exceptional. Crosby is known for his relentless energy in practice and has recorded 27 sacks over the past two seasons.
Wilkins, who started his career as a top run stopper, has also shown he can pressure the quarterback. With the addition of end Malcolm Koonce and tackle John Jenkins, the Raiders could build on a strong defense from last season that ranked ninth in points allowed per game, with an average of 19.5.
The depth of the defensive line might be a concern, especially after the first two preseason games where the Raiders allowed 279 rushing yards.
“It’s just the ability to get off blocks,” Pierce said. “It’s different when you’re in training camp and going against your own guys. You don’t throw anybody on the ground. There’s not a lot of violent sheds. But we need to get back to being heavy-handed, getting off blocks, second-level defenders.
“Then we just need to condense the space. There were too many open lanes where those running backs were coming down full speed down in the second level and even up to our safeties and obviously created big plays.”
