Oakland Raiders v. New York Jets: A Few Week Two X-Factors
By Kevin Saito
Jets Defensive Front
Despite the dearth of talent elsewhere on the roster, the Jets still have a very formidable defensive front – even without Sheldon Richardson. Though, given the distractions he’s caused, this could be a case of addition by subtraction for New York.
New York’s defense, led by the likes of Muhammad Wilkerson, Leonard Williams, Demario Davis, and Darron Lee, isn’t one that can be overlooked. This is a unit that can make some plays and force a quarterback into some mistakes.
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Granted, Tyrod Taylor and Derek Carr are on completely different levels right now, but New York’s defensive front gave Taylor all he could handle last week, and then some. They forced him into a few critical errors and although LeSean McCoy made absolute hash out of New York’s defense last week (110 yards on 22 carries), they did a good job of keeping Buffalo out of the endzone.
Oakland’s offensive line is going to have to come to play. They had some trouble last week in allowing Tennessee to get some pressure on Carr – and actually dropped him twice. Those troubles came on the right side of that line, which has been a big question mark all summer long.
And with Wilkerson lining up on the right side of that Jets line, the Raiders are going to need to figure that out really quick. They cannot afford to let Wilkerson run wild in the backfield. And they really can’t afford to let him get to Carr early and often.
Whoever it is on the right, be it Vadal Alexander or Marshall Newhouse, they have a Herculean task in front of them. If they can manage to contain Wilkerson and neutralize his effectiveness, the Raiders could be in for a big day.
But, if they can’t and Wilkerson runs wild, it could be a long afternoon for Carr and that offense.