What the Oakland Raiders have to build on

Khalil Mack Not a Bust

Khalil Mack didn’t burn up the stat sheet the way Raider Nation wants him to but he did play well, doing what was asked of him. He had six tackles—two for a loss in the game and consistently set his edge against the run. He missed a tackle for a loss on the 70-yard run by Ivory but turned the play back inside where Burris should have been.

The Raiders only blitzed on 10 percent of the defensive snaps so Mack didn’t get that many chances to rush the passer. But he had some pressures and could have had three sacks against a guy with less mobility than Jets quarterback Geno Smith on Sunday. Smith avoided one by quickly sliding and throwing to an uncovered Eric Decker then Mack chased Smith into both forced fumbles by fellow linebacker Sio Moore—one of them being a strip-sack.

Mack has been disruptive at times and will be more so against a stationary quarterback in Week 2.