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Oakland Raiders: 5 takeaways from Week 1 victory over the Denver Broncos

By Nico Di Fede

OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 09: Head coach Jon Gruden of the Oakland Raiders meets fans on the sideline during the warm up before the game against the Denver Broncos at RingCentral Coliseum on September 09, 2019 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)
OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 09: Head coach Jon Gruden of the Oakland Raiders meets fans on the sideline during the warm up before the game against the Denver Broncos at RingCentral Coliseum on September 09, 2019 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) /
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Oakland Raiders
OAKLAND, CA – SEPTEMBER 09: P.J. Hall #92 of the Oakland Raiders sacks quarterback Joe Flacco #5 of the Denver Broncos during the fourth quarter of an NFL football game at RingCentral Coliseum on September 9, 2019 in Oakland, California. Oakland Raiders (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

4. The defense would bend, but not break

The Raiders defense gave up a league-high 29.2 points per game last year, Monday night they only gave up 16.0 which is something they did only once last year and that was also a Monday night game against the Broncos where they gave up 14.

The defense did give up some chunk plays and struggled to tackle Phillip Lindsay in the second half as well as contain Courtland Sutton, but a lot of those yards didn’t end up in points as the defense held when it mattered.

A big portion of those yards came on slants to the middle of the field, which shows that the linebacker core is still a weakness in the passing game.

Gareon Conley was taken out of the game in a stretcher following a worrying neck injury, but it seems that he will be alright as he tweeted Tuesday afternoon that he is “good to go.” It’s possible he suits up in Week 2 versus the Kansas City Chiefs and almost certainly will in Week 3.

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Bruce Irvin's familiarity with Derek Carr served him well in Lions' debut
Bruce Irvin's familiarity with Derek Carr served him well in Lions' debut /

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    • Second-round rookie Trayvon Mullen filled in for Conley and played decently forcing a couple of incompletions with tight man-to-man coverage, but he also gave up a touchdown with 2:15 left in the fourth quarter.

    Mullen was covering Emanuel Sanders on the outside on a ball that was thrown up toward the corner of the end zone and Mullen did not turn his head allowing Sanders to turn his shoulder and make the adjustment to the catch easily.

    Corner is one of the harder positions to develop, especially in today’s league, so there is nothing to be too concerned about despite that play.

    Benson Mayowa proved to be a sneaky good signing coming up with two sacks in the game, while rookie first-rounder Clelin Ferrell recorded his first sack as well.

    Vontaze Burfict showed his physicality and the defense overall had better positioning and looked more cohesive.

    This probably has a lot to do with the fact that his best years were in this scheme and is he’s basically defensive coordinator Paul Guenther incarnated on the field, as teammates have described.

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