Oakland Raiders: Some Numbers Important To The Team’s Success In 2017

38 & 41

Big plays can turn the momentum of a game in the blink of an eye – either for or against you. The Raiders made plenty of big plays on their own in 2016 and proved to be one of the more exciting offensive units in the league.

Big plays are defined as passing plays of 25 yards or more, and rushing plays that go 10 yards or more. And for the year, the Raiders managed 33 big plays in the passing game, which was in the top-ten in the league. They also put together 44 big plays on the ground – more middle of the pack, but still not too shabby.

Defensively however, the Raiders were among the worst in the NFL in giving up big plays. They gave up 38 big plays in the passing game – making them the worst in the league in that category. They were better in the run game, giving up 41 of them – again, more middle of the pack.

Their -2 big play differential put them among the league’s worst in the big play category. And that is a stat that surely needs to change for the better in 2017.

No, big play differential isn’t the end all, be all of statistical categories. However, it can absolutely shine a light on the health of the defense. And while not necessarily on life support, Oakland’s defense clearly had some issues last year.

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Just to provide a little context, both of last year’s Super Bowl teams, the Patriots and the Falcons, were in the top-four in the big play differential category. So, it obviously isn’t entirely meaningless.

The offense can make all of the big plays in the world, but if the defense is giving up more – as they clearly did last season – it can highlight some real problems.

We have to hope that the influence of John Pagano (maybe even a little shifting of the scheme to better suit the talent already on the roster), and perhaps a little more talent injected into the defense through the draft will help the Raiders turn that thing around.