Oakland Raiders Week 14 Stats and Awards
Dec 13, 2015; Denver, CO, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack (52) prepares to sack Denver Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler (17) during the second half at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Raiders won 15-12. Mandatory Credit: Chris Humphreys-USA TODAY Sports
Defensive Standouts:
People are calling this a tale of two halves for the offense, but the defense showed up strong all day long. They did get lucky on a few drops from key players on Denver’s offense, but I’ll still take it. A few particular players made a splash, one so big I’m fairly certain it’s an NFL record but I can’t find the numbers to support it.
Khalil Mack: +14.3 – There may not be many people out there who fully grasp how insane this grade is. I can only remember one other player ever scoring this high and that was J.J. Watt a few weeks back. Khalil Mack accounted for 5 sacks, 2 QB hits, 3 Hurries a Fumble Force and 7 stops for 0 yards or fewer.
Now, here’s where I suspect he may have set a record. The record for QB sacks in an NFL game is 7, held by Derek Thomas, set in 1990. Mack is tied for 7th with 5 in one game. (just a little fun fact, the only active player who has more sacks in a game that Mack is Aldon Smith with 5.5)
- 1 – Derek Thomas: 7
- 2 – 4: Osi Umenyiora, Derek Thomas, Fred Dean: 6
- 5 – 6: William Gay, Aldon Smith: 5.5
*single game sack record stats taken from Pro Football Reference
Mack, obviously comes in tied with a laundry list of players at #7. But, here’s the incredible thing; Khalil Mack didn’t register his first sack until just under 9 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. That means that Mack notched 5 sacks in the last 18 minutes of the game.
Take out the last minute when the Raiders offense was running out the clock by taking a knee and that can round out to be 5 sacks in 17 minutes of play. I’m pretty sure that’s the fastest time any player has ever got that many sacks. Again, I can’t find numbers to properly support it, but I’m pretty sure that’s a record. Either way; Mack should be in the discussion for Defensive Player of the Year.
I do like to talk about how a player ranked league wide at his position, this week it’s just silly to mention that Mack is the highest graded player, so instead I’m going to list the entire defenses who out performed Mack.
- Patriots
- Chiefs
- Jets
- Eagles
- Panthers
- Broncos
Khalil Mack alone, graded higher than 26 NFL defenses.
Denico Autry: +6.6 – Autry had a great game, especially in pass rush. He didn’t pick up a QB sack, but he did come away with 1 hit, 6 hurries, and a batted pass. Autry put up the 4th best defensive grade in the league, and aside from Mack’s grade, only a few tenths of a point separated Autry from second place behind Mack. When Autry shows up, he’s a real powerhouse in the front 7 of this defense.
Mario Edwards Jr.: +6.2 – Edwards had very balanced and effective game, coming in as the 2nd highest rated Edge Rusher in the league, only behind Mack. A +2.7 in both run defense and pass rush, as well as a team-high +1.6 in coverage shows just how versatile this young man is. He ended the game with 3 hurries, a batted pass, and 2 stops.
Edwards is certainly the heir to Tuck’s position should Tuck not return, and even if Tuck does come back for another season Edwards’ performance on the field would most likely put Tuck into a rotational spot. I like the Edwards pick when Reggie drafted him, and I’m glad he was able to overcome the criticisms people had of him in college.
Justin Ellis: +2.8 – The big boy had a great game stuffing the gaps grabbing a +2 in run defense, but the big man also picked up a few QB hurries of his own. The entire front 7 was pressuring the QB all day long, every position was contributing.
Ben Heeney: +2.3 – The Rookie plays with his hair on fire that’s for sure. He’s always flying around the field, and seems to be in the vicinity of the action on every play. Mack, Autry, and Edwards had pressuring the QB pretty contained and Heeney really showed up in the run game with a +1.7 grade, and 6 tackles.
Next: Week 14 Defensive Grades