Oakland Raiders: A Few Keys To Victory Over Tennessee Titans

Secondary Must Come To Play

Quite obviously, having given up a pile of yards and points – not to mention seven passing touchdowns – Oakland’s secondary is in pretty rough shape. David Amerson continues to be their steady, reliable cover man with 12 tackles, three passes defensed, and an interception. But high priced free agent corner Sean Smith has yet to produce anything halfway decent.

It says a lot – and should be incredibly worrisome – that Smith has a very similar stat line to notable Raiders bust D.J. Hayden.

Smith has vowed that the defense will get it together in a recent posting on Facebook.

"“There’s Raiders fans and there SEAN Smith fans. The SS fans know what I can do and know what I will do. Raider fans that don’t know yet I understand your frustration, we have a long season . Our defenses will get it together, WE will get it together. THANK YOU for your support and love. #Nation”"

Behind Tajae Sharpe, Rishard Matthews, and Andre Johnson, the Titans don’t have the most imposing or glamorous receiving corps. But they’ve been effective in spots. These are matchups Oakland’s secondary should win. But they have got to come to play.

Norton can help them out by putting them in better positions with some of his play calls – assuming he’s still making the play calls. Rather than leaving Reggie Nelson alone on an island in the defensive backfield, he needs to make sure there’s help.

And for their parts, Smith and Amerson have got to get it together. They both have shown inconsistency at times, as well as a penchant for getting burned. Though Amerson has been the better of the two, there is still much room for improvement for both.

Unless this secondary can come together as a unit and make some plays, this defense is going to continue giving up yards and points at a historical rate. And this is not the side of history this team wants to be on.

The secondary has to come ready to step up and play some lights out football.