Oakland Raiders: A Few Players Who Must Step Up Against Baltimore
By Kevin Saito
Lucky for the Raiders defense, they’re going to be squaring off with an offense that struggles to move the ball and put points on the board every bit as much as the Oakland offense has the past couple of weeks.
For the year, the Ravens are the league’s thirtieth ranked offense, averaging just 270 yards and 15 points per game. They’ll be facing off against Joe Flacco, who leads an offense that averages just 143 yards through the air per game – dead last in the NFL.
But then, Kirk Cousins was severely struggling before the Raiders defense rolled into town and made him look like a Hall of Famer.
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Smith and Amerson have had up and down seasons – with both giving up plenty of big plays. And touchdowns. And although the Ravens offense hasn’t exactly been lighting it up so far this season, they’ve still got plenty of talent on that roster that, if allowed to get in rhythm and get hot, could burn this Oakland secondary.
Running back Javorius Allen and tight end Ben Watson lead the team in receptions, with each notching 16 so far on the year. And Oakland has had their share of difficulty covering both pass-catching backs and tight ends.
On the outside though, the Raiders will be facing off with a familiar face in former Chiefs wideout Jeremy Maclin and also Mike Wallace. The pair have combined for modest numbers so far this year – 19 receptions for 192 yards and three touchdowns.
But Maclin, in five career games against the Raiders, has posted 220 yards on 17 receptions and three touchdowns. Wallace, over the course of his career, has faced the Raiders six times and has found success against them to the tune of 359 yards on 21 receptions with three touchdowns.
Size-wise, Maclin and Wallace are ideal matchups for Smith and Amerson – neither are the quick, shifty, smaller receivers who’ve given them both fits over the last couple of years. But then, both Smith and Amerson have struggled against even the bigger receivers of late – a trend they need to break PDQ.
This defense overall, hasn’t played poorly in three of the season’s first four games. A secondary that was among the worst in the league last year, giving up almost 260 yards per game, is – better, so far this year.
To this point, they’ve surrendered “just” 233 yards per game and have played better defense overall.
Against Denver last week, Oakland’s secondary gave up just 155 passing yards to Trevor Siemian. It was a solid effort that helped hold Denver to just 16 total points and 298 yards of total offense.
If the Raiders want to get off their two-game skid and get back to winning, it’s going to take the secondary, led by Smith and Amerson to step up and play solid pass defense. And with an anemic Baltimore offense, and Flacco tossing plenty of interceptions – six, so far this year – they’re going to get some chances.
It’s on them to make the most of those chances.