Oakland Raiders: Secondary Will Get A Very Stiff Test Against Baltimore

The Oakland Raiders and their rebuilt secondary seemed to bounce back in Nashville last week, but will face an even stiffer test this week in Baltimore.

After being burned worse than your mother in law’s meatloaf for the first two weeks of the season, the Oakland Raiders’ secondary seemed to get onto the right track last week in Nashville. They limited Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota to 212 yards on 17 of 33 passing. They also held Mariota without a touchdown and picked him off twice.

All in all, it was a good performance by Oakland’s revamped unit. In fact, the performance of their secondary was so good, it earned cornerbacks Sean Smith and David Amerson Pro Football Focus’ top grades for the week.

After the game, the narrative was that after getting beaten worse than eggs for an omelet for weeks straight, Oakland’s secondary bounced back in a big way. And to be fair, the secondary did rise to the occasion and did a good job of making some plays.

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But let’s not get too crazy here. This was the Tennessee Titans, after all – a team with the league’s twenty-fourth ranked passing attack. While it was a good, important performance and a solid foot forward, Tajae Sharpe and Rishard Matthews shouldn’t be mistaken for Antonio Brown and Odell Beckham Jr.

And what’s more, we shouldn’t be mistaking Mariota for Joe Flacco.

This week, with the Raiders in Baltimore and a good shot at going 3-1 for the first time since like, Thomas Jefferson was in office, that revamped secondary is going to get a very stiff test. And that test is going to come in the form of Steve Smith and Mike Wallace.

While it’s true that Smith and Wallace have been around since about the beginning of time – or maybe it just seems like it – both are still effective receivers. And both are off to pretty good starts to the season.

Combined, Smith and Wallace have 26 receptions for 336 yards and three touchdowns on the year. The always fiery Smith is a threat every time he steps onto the field. And Wallace has shown that despite a down season in Minnesota, he still has plenty left in the tank.

Let’s also not forget that only last season, Smith absolutely gashed the Raiders in a week two match up. The Raiders walked away with a win in the game, but Smith made his presence felt in a very big way. On the day, he had 10 receptions (on 16 targets) for 150 yards.

The Raiders simply did not have an answer for Smith that day.

Of course, Smith was helped by the fact that the Raiders had a secondary that consisted of D.J. Hayden, Travis Carrie, Larry Asante, Neiko Thorpe, and Taylor Mays. With Hayden in coverage, most any of us could probably rack up a pretty impressive stat line.

This year, the Raiders have a much better looking secondary. Granted, it is a secondary with three new faces that has yet to play up to its potential, but the level of talent is far greater. It’s a matter of all these new faces find a rhythm together and gelling.

There were most definitely signs of life in Nashville last week. Though it wasn’t without its flaws and hiccups along the way, overall, Oakland’s secondary played quite a bit better than the previous two weeks. Smith, Amerson, Reggie Nelson, and rookie Karl Joseph all had solid games.

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It was the sort of game you hope the team can build on and draw confidence from. And they’re going to need confidence heading into Baltimore and having to deal with Flacco, Smith, and Wallace. Not to mention the team’s leading receiver in tight end Dennis Pitta.

The Ravens are off to a 3-0 start this season, but it hasn’t exactly been – pretty. But they’ve done what they needed to do in beating Buffalo, Cleveland, and Jacksonville.

Flacco, in particular, has been up and down so far this season. Though completing 64 percent of his passes (76 of 118), he’s thrown just three touchdowns (all to Wallace), has been sacked six times, and has thrown four interceptions – two to Jacksonville alone, just last week.

At the moment, Baltimore has the league’s twenty-first ranked passing attack and twenty-fifth ranked offense overall. On top of that all, they’re scoring just 19 points a game.

Given all of that, some might be tempted to look past this Baltimore team. They might be tempted to say that their 3-0 start is inflated and that they haven’t played anybody yet. And that all might be true. But this is also a team – and an offense in particular – that has a lot of experience and is very capable of exploding at any minute.

This is not a team that the Raiders can afford to overlook, underestimate, or take lightly. If they do, it could be a very long afternoon for the Silver and Black.

Next: First Three Games A Case Of Better Lucky Than Good?

Many believe that Oakland’s performance was a bounce back and perhaps, a turning point for this defense. It was a solid day for a secondary that sorely needed one. And though they defeated a team with some talent on the offensive side of the ball, the test they’re going to get in Baltimore will be even stiffer.

Flacco, Smith, Wallace, and Pitta will test this Raiders defense and prove whether that “bounce back” performance in Nashville was grounded in reality or was simply just a mirage.