Oakland Raiders make adjustments to win on road

Sep 27, 2015; Cleveland, OH, USA; Oakland Raiders linebacker Khalil Mack (52) forces a fumble by Cleveland Browns quarterback Josh McCown (13) in a NFL game at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Raiders defeated the Browns 27-20. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Khalil Mack

I was hoping Del Rio would move defensive end Khalil Mack back to strong-side outside linebacker. But he did one better by using a lot of 3-4 looks instead of staying a slave to his 4-3 under. Now, opposing offensive lines don’t know when Mack, fellow outside linebacker Aldon Smith or both are coming.

The Browns couldn’t scheme against as much so Mack had two sacks along with numerous pressures in the game. That change was twofold as he’s just as dominant against the run and had two tackles for losses. Del Rio has always fixed the run defense everywhere he’s been right away and opponents already can’t run up the middle on the Raiders.

But as long as Ray-Ray Armstrong is the strong-side OLB, that weakness would be exploited by opponents. They were getting outside of Armstrong, even on short yardage situations as he could keep his contain. With Mack there and Smith on the other side, the Raiders held the Browns to 2.8 yard per carry on Sunday. Expect to see more of that scheme going forward as it appears that the 3-4 could be the way for the Raiders to best utilize the strengths of Mack and Smith this season/

Next: A few more adjustments