Oakland Raiders Can Upset the Arizona Cardinals
Outside linebacker Khalil Mack is still without a sack for the season but has consistently beaten left tackles for pressures. At the very beginning of this season, he face a mobile quarterback in Geno Smith, who he chased into a sack for Sio Moore. Quarterbacks Ryan Fitzpatrick of the Houston Texans, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Ryan Tannehill of the Miami Dolphins simply threw quickly.
Brady had the most difficulty of the bunch because his receivers don’t get open as fast as the other two quarterback’s guys. Then last Sunday, San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers stepped up to avoid Mack and delivered the ball down field. He was able to do that because the Raiders got no push from the inside but these are better offensive lines than the Cardinals have.
So far, Mack has gone against left tackles D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Duane Brown, Sebastian Vollmer, Branden Albert, and King Dunlap. Cardinals left tackle Jared Veldheer is a large step down from those guys so Mack will get his sack on. See fellow JustBlogBaby writer Chase Ruttig’s article on how Veldheer was had by a decimated-by-injury Brian Orakpo.
Raiders fans should be glad that Veldheer is now in Arizona because two Cardinals quarterbacks have been injured this year. And the combination of him and a not-so-mobile Palmer is the perfect for Mack because Veldheer can be had. Mack had four pressures last Sunday, so even if he doesn’t quite get there another four pressures equals two interceptions against a guy like Palmer.
But he will get there!