Oakland Raiders: A few keys to beating Chargers in week five matchup
By Kevin Saito
Don’t Prove Gordon Right
Chargers running back Melvin Gordon made a few waves recently, with his statement on Sports Illustrated writer Robert Klemko’s video series, that the Chargers offense would be “getting a break,” in not having to face Khalil Mack on the other side of the ball.
Given Mack’s start with Chicago, the sentiment is understandable. And given the state of Oakland’s run defense at present – thirty-first in the league – that sentiment only becomes more understandable.
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However, despite two opening games in which the run defense was trashed, first by Todd Gurley and the Rams, then by Phillip Lindsay and the Broncos, Oakland’s run defense seemed to begin settling in a bit.
They limited a Dolphins team who came into the week three game averaging a bit more than 120 yards a game, to just 41 total yards on the ground. And of those 41, quarterback Ryan Tannehill accounted for 27 of them on scrambles.
Against Cleveland, the Raiders had managed to keep a solid, top-five Browns running game, relatively in check. They limited Carlos Hyde to 82 yards on 22 carries – a pedestrian average of just 3.7 yards per carry.
It was Browns rookie Nick Chubb, who’s 105 yards – on just three carries – that was the killer. But this again, only reinforces just how critical the first point in this article was – and that’s limiting explosive plays.
In Gordon, the Raiders are going to have to be on point. They’re going to have to really buckle down and focus on stifling him. Not giving him any room to run, and taking him down on first contact. Gordon has been impressive on yards after contact so far this year, and the Raiders need to put a stop to that.
If they can prove Gordon wrong, and show him that he’s not going to “get a break” against this Raiders defense, sans Mack, they’ll put themselves in a good position.