Oakland Raiders v Buffalo Bills: Five Things That Must Happen To Win

Limit Shady’s Effectiveness

Over the past couple of games, the Oakland defense has done a pretty good job of shutting down – or at least, minimizing the effectiveness – of the opposing team’s running game.

Oakland’s defense gave up just 80 yards to Melvin Gordon and the Chargers, and 97 to Kareem Hunt at the Chiefs. Only giving up 97 yards – 34 of those yards on one play – to Hunt and the Chiefs, who have the league’s fifth-ranked rushing game this season, is a feather this defense can, and probably should, stick in its cap.

Overall, Oakland’s run defense isn’t anything to write home about – ranked nineteenth in the league in giving up a tick under 114 yards a game on the ground.

But, having given up just 177 yards over the past two games – an average of just 88.5 yards per game – it could be that we’re seeing this defense beginning to trend in the right direction.

At least, that’s the hope. And the addition of NaVorro Bowman to Oakland’s run defense will hopefully help. After signing just three days prior to the game, Bowman stepped in and led the team with 11 tackles – one for a loss.

The veteran pick up was instrumental in helping to more or less neuter Kansas City’s potent ground attack. Aside from Hunt’s 34-yard burst, the Chiefs didn’t do very much on the ground in the game – 60 total yards on 22 carries – for a woeful average of just 2.7 yards per carry.

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Oakland’s run defense is going to get another tough test this week in LeSean McCoy. The man known as Shady can be one of the most explosive backs in the NFL. And although he hasn’t quite gotten off to the start he wanted this season (370 yards on 110 carries, and two touchdowns), he has the ability to erupt at any time.

You only need to go back to last season when McCoy lit up Oakland’s run defense for 130 yards on just 17 carries – a very bloated average of 7.6 yards per carry. McCoy’s 130 yards were part of an overall 212 yard effort on the day for Buffalo.

With Bowman hopefully stepping up and adding some much needed toughness and punch to Oakland’s run defense, the hope is that Oakland finds a way to limit McCoy’s effectiveness. They need to make him as much of a non-factor as they were able to make Kareem Hunt.

McCoy is looking to have a good game and jump start his season. And given his performance against the Raiders last year, he’s probably thinking this is a good week to erupt.

It’s on Oakland’s defense to shut him down and force Tyrod Taylor to make the plays – something he wasn’t able to do last season against an awful Raiders defense. For the game, Taylor threw for 191 yards on 18-35 passing, zero touchdowns and one interception.

And Taylor might find the going a little rougher this year without weapons like Sammy Watkins and Marquise Goodwin in the passing game.

But it’s all going to start with the Raiders defense slowing McCoy down.