Oakland Raiders: Victory checklist for Week 3 against Minnesota Vikings
By Kevin Saito
6. Get Off the Field Already
A worn-out defense is not going to win you a lot of games. In just about every instance in the history of the world, a defense that’s fresh, full of pep, and has energy is going to carry the day.
And yet, so far in this young season, the Raiders have shown an alarming inability to close out an offensive drive and get their defense off the field.
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Through the first two weeks of the season, Oakland has done a very impressive job of sustaining their own offensive drives — reversing another trend for this team.
On 28 third-down conversion opportunities, the Raiders have converted 16 of them (and four of seven in the red zone) for an impressive 57 percent success rate. That ranks them second in the league in that category. It’s a marked improvement over recent performances.
On the other side of the ball though, the futility seems to linger. Faced with 27 third-down opportunities, Oakland’s defense has allowed 14 conversions for a dismal 52 percent success rate for their opponents. That ranks them 29th in that category for the season.
Although it should be noted that their third-down conversion rate in the red zone is much better, allowing two conversions in six attempts — a 33% conversion rate which makes them sixth in that category.
Simply put, the offense needs to keep on doing what it’s doing but the defense needs to pick it up. They need to make a stop on third-down, get off the field, and stay fresh.
Letting an opponent sustain their drives by converting on third downs is a problem that’s lingered as long as Oakland’s issue with penalties.
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And if the Raiders hope to turn their ship around, they need to start closing out opponent’s drives and getting the defense off the field.