Oakland Raiders: Brilliant Offensive Start Overshadowed By Defensive Woes
By Kevin Saito
The Oakland Raiders have a lot of problems on the defensive side of the ball – problems that have overshadowed a brilliant start by the offense.
Much of the focus on the Oakland Raiders over the first couple of weeks has been on how particularly terrible the defense is. And rightly so. When your defensive unit gives up more than 1,000 yards and 69 points in two games, that scrutiny is deserved.
The problems with Oakland’s defense are many and varied – and they’re completely overshadowing a brilliant start by their offense.
Coming into the season, most expected that Oakland’s rebuilt defense was going to be the backbone of the team. Khalil Mack even made the observation that the Raiders defense could be as good as Denver’s vaunted unit. After two weeks, it seems clear that for Oakland to even come close to reaching Denver’s level, they have got a lot of work to do.
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Of course, they have a lot of work to do to avoid being the worst defense in league history.
Most of the questions about the Raiders as the season started surrounded the offense. Would Derek Carr be able to make the leap from promising to elite? How would Amari Cooper fare in his second season? Would Latavius Murray be able to shoulder the load in Oakland’s running game? What would they get out of Clive Walford? Can Michael Crabtree continue to excel as he did last season?
All valid questions and until we saw this offensive unit get started, questions we didn’t have answers to. But we’ve got two weeks in the books now and it seems pretty safe to say that Oakland is answering those questions about their offense in style.
Granted, the sample size is small, but through the first two weeks of the season, the Raiders are fielding the NFL’s number one offense. Let that sink in for a moment. When was the last time the Raiders had the number one offense in the entire league? Quite a while back now.
The Raiders check in with 470 yards of total offense per game. With 309 yards per game, Derek Carr is leading the league’s sixth best passing offense. And behind Latavius Murray, Jalen Richard, and Deandre Washington, Oakland’s running game is second in the NFL with 161 yards per game.
The Raiders are third in the league – just behind Carolina and San Diego – for most points scored (63). They are tied with San Diego, Pittsburgh, and Arizona for most touchdowns scored (8). Their four rushing touchdowns put them in a tie with San Francisco and Dallas for most in the league. And their four receiving touchdowns are just two behind Pittsburgh for the league lead.
Amari Cooper, despite a few issues in his all around game and knowledge of NFL rules, is the league’s sixth most productive receiver, averaging 104 yards per game to lead the team. And Michael Crabtree, tied with Cooper for most receptions (11) seems to be picking up right where he left off last season.
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Offensively, this team is firing on all cylinders. The passing game seems to be maturing and developing into a real force of nature. And the run game, despite all of the worries and concerns coming into the year, seems to be a real threat and a legitimate complement to Carr and the passing game.
Both units are combining to make Oakland’s offensive unit as a whole the most dynamic offense in the league.
Though they looked somewhat disjointed and out of rhythm at times against the Falcons last week and yet, they still amassed yards and scored points. They made plays when they had to and did a good job of carving up Atlanta’s defense.
The defense though, for the second straight week, let the team down. The offense was able to overcome the defensive deficiencies in New Orleans – just barely. But they squeaked out a win. Against the Falcons though, the defense just gave up too much for the offense to overcome.
Oakland’s offense as a whole seems to have made a giant leap. They’ve gone from a unit with some real nice parts, to a well oiled, fully functioning, lethal machine. They can run on you. They can throw on you. They can score from anywhere on the field at any time.
And at least, through the first two weeks of the season, nobody seems able to stop them.
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Unfortunately for this Raiders squad though, their defense seems completely unable to stop anybody as well. With their offense performing at such a high level, as lethal and powerful as they seem, this could be a special year for the Raiders.
They need this defense to play. They need this defense to figure it out – and figure it out quickly. Oakland’s defense needs to get right and get right fast otherwise their deficiencies might not just overshadow a brilliant offensive start, they might endanger what looks like it could be a very promising season overall.