Matchups to Watch: Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans
By Seth Murphy
The Oakland Raiders look to get back in the win column in Week 3 against the Tennessee Titans. Here are four matchups to watch.
The Raiders couldn’t make it two comeback victories in a row, falling to 1-1 on the season after a loss in Week 2 to the Atlanta Falcons.
In Week 3, Oakland will face a team they played less than one month ago — the Titans.
Here are four matchups to watch in the upcoming game.
Raiders Pass Rushers vs. Titans Young Offensive Tackles
There is no need to mince words — the pass rush of the Oakland Raiders has been a massive disappointment. A group that is so talented and includes two elite pass rushers has recorded only two sacks and has not been disruptive in the slightest.
Some of their slow start can be blamed on schemes to slow them down and game plans that help neutralize them, but so far they have been inexcusably bad regardless of the circumstances.
The young offensive tackles in Tennessee have been a different story. Taylor Lewan and rookie Jack Conklin haven’t been expected to produce much as a duo, particularly due to the lack of translatable skills that the latter showed on game film throughout his senior season.
The Titans, however, should be pleasantly surprised with what the rookie has been able to do in his first couple of games, looking much better than many analysts, including myself, predicted.
Regardless of the particularly surprisingly good start that the Titans tackles have had, they still are far from the Raiders pass rushers in terms of overall talent and athletic ability.
On paper, Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin should be living in the backfield come Sunday — but the game won’t be played on paper. The Raiders pass rushers must rebound quickly or things could start to get out of hand.