Oakland Raiders: A Few X-Factors To Watch For Versus Indianapolis
By Kevin Saito
The Return of a Key Piece
Last year, with Mario Edwards Jr in the lineup, the Raiders fielded a respectable run defense. Edwards has the size, speed, and ability to occupy blockers, take a running back head on, make plays on his own, or free up teammates to get after the quarterback.
With Edwards on the field, the Raiders rolled out the league’s thirteenth best run defense – a dramatic improvement over the previous year. Edwards’ presence and the space – and blockers – he occupied helped Khalil Mack challenge for a sack title.
Overall, Oakland’s defense was better with Edwards on the field than it’s been with him on the shelf fo the last year.
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Today will mark his first live game action in quite a while. And with the team gearing up for a postseason run, it couldn’t come at a better time.
Expectations for Edwards in this first game should be tempered. He’s not going to see an extensive amount of action as HC Jack Del Rio and DC Ken Norton Jr bring him along slowly. The goal is to have Edwards healthy and ready to roll come the playoffs.
But we should see an immediate impact even in limited duty. With Mack now bookended by Bruce Irvin – who is really starting to come on lately – having Edwards up front is going to give them a little more space to operate.
With Andrew Luck absorbing 37 sacks so far this season, the Raiders will have the opportunity to get to him. The Indianapolis line has been better the last couple of weeks, but this is also the same line that gave up 14 sacks over a three game span earlier in the year.
Having Edwards on the field is going to pay big dividends for this Raiders defense. Especially with playoffs looming.