Oakland Raiders: A Few Notable Numbers Through Two Weeks Of Play

53.8

If there is one area that should be cause for great concern, it’s the inability of Oakland’s defense to get off the field on third downs.

Thus far, through two games, the Raiders have allowed the Titans and Jets to combine for a third-down conversion rate of 53.8 percent – that’s 14 conversions in 26 attempts, if you’re scoring at home.

That mark, puts them down near the bottom of the league in defensive third-down conversion rates – thirtieth, to be precise.

It was a problem last season and thus far, looks to be a problem again this season.

Tennessee converted seven of their 14 third-down attempts, and the Jets were allowed to convert on seven of 12 attempts. While the 50 percent conversion rate to the Titans might be forgivable, given the playmakers they have on offense, allowing the hapless Jets, who have an absolute dearth of talent on the offensive side of the ball to connect on 58 percent of their conversion attempts is not just unacceptable, it should be downright alarming.

The defense simply cannot allow opposing offenses to extend drives and keep them on the field. Even more to the point, they can’t allow opposing offenses to dictate the tempo of a game and keep Oakland’s offense sitting on the sidelines.

Against an offense like New York’s, the Raiders were able to overcome that gaudy conversion rate – they have the offensive firepower to do it. But against a more talented squad like Tennessee’s, they struggled a bit more. It was only after the defense started locking it down on third-downs that Oakland’s offense was able to take advantage of it and pull away for the win.

And with some very potent, very powerful offenses on the not-too-distant horizon, this is a big problem area this team needs to get right. And they need to get it right pretty quick.