Oakland Raiders: Defensive Problems Are Bigger Than Ken Norton Jr.

The Oakland Raiders have confounded a large group of their fanbase by allowing Bill Musgrave to walk, yet retaining defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. – but it is the right move.

For all of the upheaval and turmoil since their season ended in Houston, you’d think the Oakland Raiders finished the year 4-12, instead of 12-4 and playing in their first playoff game in 14 years. Since the Texans shellacked the Raiders 27-14 in that ill-fated playoff game, there has been no shortage of hand-wringing, gnashing of teeth, and rending of garments.

Suffice it to say, some are acting like the Raiders just completed a Cleveland Browns-esque year, instead of finishing their best season since Rich Gannon and Tim Brown wore the colors.

Now, the year didn’t end as we all would have liked. Obviously. In an ideal world, a Derek Carr-led Raiders team would have made a deep playoff run. In a really, really ideal world, that Carr-led team would have brought home a Lombardi Trophy.

But we don’t live in an ideal world, nor a really, really ideal world. If we did, in addition to a laundry list of real life concerns we all have, Carr never would have busted his leg in the first place.

Now that the season is over and we’re all dealing with the aftermath of it, hand-wringing season has begun in full force. There has been much said and written about OC Bill Musgrave’s departure from the team – but that is another story for another day.

Suffice it to say that with Todd Downing taking over the reins of the offense, there is still plenty of continuity and we shouldn’t fear an offensive regression. If anything, this offense might still grow into some of its still huge untapped potential.

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The real hand-wringing and gnashing of teeth though, has been reserved for the retention of Ken Norton Jr. as the team’s defensive coordinator. Needless to say, there is a sizeable chunk of the Raider Nation not real pleased with that decision.

It’s definitely an unpopular opinion to hold these days, but hanging on to Norton (at least for the moment) is the right move – or rather, non-move – to make. Statistically speaking, Oakland’s defense wasn’t much worse than it was in 2015 – a year that saw the team make tremendous improvements. In fact, in some areas, Oakland’s defense actually improved over last year’s version – albeit slightly.

But after seeing the Raiders’ defense give up more than 1,000 yards of offense and 69 points in the first two games of the season, it became increasingly trendy to call for Norton’s head. Certainly, in the early part of the season, Oakland’s defense looked overmatched and was getting blown off the field.

But as the season progressed, this unit got better. A lot better. Yes, there are plenty of areas this team can and must improve if they hope to take the next step on the road from relevance to prominence to dominance.

Let’s not get it all twisted though – the perception that the Raiders’ defense regressed significantly doesn’t quite hold water. The reality of the situation is that the defense made such tremendous strides from 2014 to 2015, that most people assumed with new pieces like Sean Smith, Bruce Irvin, and Reggie Nelson on the roster, we’d see a similar jump up the ladder.

It obviously didn’t happen and although the defense didn’t make the sort of strides we saw from 2014 to 2015, the defense as a whole – again, statistically speaking – didn’t actually get worse. The best you can say is that they remained – stagnant.

If they hope to reach championship-caliber as a team, the defense cannot afford to be stagnant. They must move up the ladder.

Let’s also not forget that this was a defensive unit trying to incorporate a number of brand new faces. They were also dealing with the absence of Mario Edwards Jr – a key component of Oakland’s improved run defense – as well as Aldon Smith.

It’s also worth noting that this is a defense that sustained injuries to key contributors like Stacy McGee and Karl Joseph for extended periods of time. Not only that, but they had to deal with big ticket free agents like Sean Smith not playing up to their contracts.

And one other thing to remember before judging Norton too harshly – too late, in the case of many – is that although the talent level on this roster is vastly improved over the last few years, this is still a roster with very significant holes – like a linebacker who can actually cover tight ends and running backs in pass routes.

As much as it pains some to admit, not all of that is Norton’s fault. Yes, he is responsible for going to battle with the guys he has, rather than the guys he wishes he had, but if he doesn’t have the guys who have the physical ability to make the plays, that’s not entirely on him.

That HC Jack Del Rio didn’t have a knee jerk reaction and can Norton (at least, not yet) is a good thing. What this franchise needs more than anything is stability and continuity. The fact that Del Rio also put Norton on notice that this unit must improve – and improve quickly – is also a good thing. It shows that there will be accountability – as Marcus Robertson unfortunately found out the hard way.

Ken Norton is not the biggest problem with this Raiders defense. Though the talent is vastly improved, they still need some more help – linebackers and interior defensive lineman are at the top of that list. Without getting some fresh bodies who can make plays in those positions, this defensive unit isn’t going to be able to continue improving.

They very well may just remain – stagnant.

Norton is an unpopular guy right now, with people across social media decrying his continued employment. But this defense has made some very significant strides over the last two seasons, and the talent level is improving – they just need a few more pieces to complete that puzzle.

Just because they didn’t make another tremendous jump up the ladder this year, you don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater. Stability and continuity are key to successful franchises – teams that make changes, sometimes just for the sake of making changes, often flounder and fail (see Cleveland Browns and San Francisco 49ers)

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The hand-wringing and teeth gnashing we’re seeing seems more indicative of a team coming off a terrible season. Not a team that went 12-4 and was in contention for home field throughout the playoffs until the last game of the regular season. And though some might not want to hear or admit it, this team won with the defense, not entirely in spite of it.

It’s a very unpopular position to take, but retaining Norton was the right thing to do.