Five Observations From The Oakland Raiders’ Woeful Preseason
Aug 23, 2013; Oakland, CA, USA; Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) throws the ball against the Oakland Raiders during the first quarter at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
4. The defense still cannot generate any pressure:
The Achilles’ heel of the Raiders’ defense last season was their pass rush, as they only mustered 25 sacks as a team. This preseason has not shown signs of improvement, despite the roster overhaul to correct that problem. The team has five sacks in the four games and only one has come against an opposing first unit, which came in the first game against the Cowboys.
To put into perspective how bad the pass rush has been, the Raiders recorded zero sacks against the Chicago Bears offensive line. The Bears offensive line has been much maligned over the last few seasons. They surrendered 44 sacks as team last season and the Raiders could not record a single sack against any of the Bears’ offenses.
The Raiders are using the excuse that they are playing a “vanilla defense,” which means they are showing nothing but base sets and pressures to not give teams anything to game plan with. It is all well and good to say that, but other teams are playing vanilla defensive set and they seem to be generating more pressure than the Raiders have been. The lack of pressure has been exposed in their previous two games in which they got carved up by the Bears and the Saints, as they were outscored 50 to 10 in the first half of those games.
The Raiders need to find a way to generate pressure, or this season is going to be painful to watch on the defensive side of the ball. The secondary will be picked apart when opposing quarterbacks have all day to wait for their receivers to get open. Sio Moore and Lamarr Houston need to step and be the team’s primary pass rushers.
5. Injury bug bites the Raiders:
The Raiders have been unable to avoid injuries this preseason. Injuries are devastating to a team that has literally no depth on one of the thinnest rosters in the league. As mention above, the major injury has been the triceps injury suffered by starting left tackle Veldheer. That leaves the already porous offensive line with an even bigger hole and just one NFL caliber starting offensive lineman in Stefan Wisniewski.
The offensive has also had injuries to two players that were expected to be key contributors. Quarterback Matt Flynn is suffering from elbow tendinitis, which along with his poor play has opened the door for Pryor to step into the starting role. The team is also missing their number one tight end in David Ausberry, who has been one of the most improved players on the offense this preseason. The team is also low on depth, with an injury to reserve guard Lucas Nix struggle with a knee injury and reserve running back Latavius Murray is done for the year following surgery on his ankle.
The defense has not been immune, as well. The big injury has been to last year’s starting linebacker in Miles Burris. Burris has been unable to recover with offseason surgery and has been placed on the physically-unable-to-perform list, which will keep him from playing until mid-season. The team also lost slot corner back Joselio Hanson, which hampers the depth at the corner position. Projected starting corner and slot corner Tracy Porter has been dealing with a nagging groin injury, as well.
The Raiders cannot afford any other injuries to key players, as they simply do not have the depth to deal with injuries. Any more injuries and this team could be looking at a long season.