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Oakland Raiders: 3 Reasons To Be Excited, 3 Reasons To Be Worried

By Kevin Saito

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Aug 15, 2014; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders outside linebacker Khalil Mack (52) is congratulated by outside linebacker Sio Moore (55) after recording a sack against the Detroit Lions in the third quarter at O.co Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Lions 27-26. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Reason To Be Excited #1- The Defensive Front

Stuffing the run was something the Raiders didn’t do particularly well last season. The run defense started to show some signs of life the latter part of the year, but for the season, the Raiders gave up 120 yards per game – which put them in the lower echelons of the league.

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    • This offseason, Oakland added some proven run stuffers to their defensive front. The Raiders got much stronger up the middle with the addition of Dan Williams, Curtis Lofton, Malcolm Smith. Together with returners Justin Tuck, Justin Ellis, Khalil Mack, and Sio Moore – and rotational guys like Benson Mayowa, C.J. Wilson, along rookies Mario Edwards, and Max Valles – Oakland is going to have one of the more intimidating defensive fronts in the league.

    Aside from Tuck and Mack, the Raiders don’t have a lot of “big names” along their defensive front. They’re a far less celebrated unit than others in the league. Regardless of that though, this is a defense that is going to be very hard to run against.

    Unlike last season, teams will not be able to run the ball down Oakland’s throat. They aren’t going to be able to dictate the temp of the game. And being able to take away the run game is going to make opposing offenses a little more one dimensional, which will help the Raiders overall, defensively speaking.

    Next: Reason to Be Concerned #2

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