Oakland Raiders: The good, bad, and ugly in preseason win over the Packers

Good: Third Downs

Their down conversions are something we’ve mentioned in each of the last two weeks – in both a good, and a bad way. It seemed like when the conversion rate was good on one side, it was not so good on the other, and there wasn’t a real balance to it.

Last season, although the Raiders were respectable converting third-down opportunities, they were abysmal trying to defend against them.

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Against the Packers though, the Raiders did a terrific job of converting their own third-down opportunities, while defensively, limiting the success the Packers had on theirs.

For the game, the Raiders converted seven-of-15 third-down opportunities – a 47 percent success rate. Defensively, they limited Green Bay to just four conversions in 15 attempts – a 27 percent success rate.

Both numbers are very, very good. It showed that the offense could keep the chains moving, while the defense was able to shut Green Bay down, and get off the field.

Again, it’s just preseason football, but defensively, the Raiders have done a solid job preventing third down conversions through three games thus far. They held the Lions to three-of-14 conversions, and the Rams to just two-of-14.

Which means that, for the preseason, the Raiders have limited opposing teams to a third-down conversion rate of about 21 percent (nine-of-43). Yeah, it’s preseason, but it shows that the defense is stepping up and handling business on third-down – a marked contrast to recent seasons past.

Offensively, they need to put together a better conversion rate on offense. Though they were solid against Green Bay, they weren’t great against the Lions or the Rams, going four-of-20 on third-down conversion attempts – a 20 percent success rate.

Being able to convert their third-down opportunities, while limiting those of the other team, will be a solid indicator about the health of this team, on both sides of the ball.