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Buy or Sell: Oakland Raiders vs. Atlanta Falcons

By Nick Hjeltness

Nov 1, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. encourages the defense before the start of the game against the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 1, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. encourages the defense before the start of the game against the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /
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Sep 18, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Atlanta Falcons running back Tevin Coleman (26) runs for a touchdown against the Oakland Raiders in the fourth quarter at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Falcons defeated the Raiders 35-28. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Sep 18, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Atlanta Falcons running back Tevin Coleman (26) runs for a touchdown against the Oakland Raiders in the fourth quarter at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Falcons defeated the Raiders 35-28. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /

After a historically bad defensive start, are the Raiders playoff hopes over?

Sell.

Yes, the defense is awful. But no, that doesn’t mean the Raiders playoff hopes are over.

The truth is, as bad as the defense is, no problem in football is completely unfixable. The defense has too many talented players to keep up this historically bad pace.

With a few adjustments, and if the team can stay in the hunt by the time Mario Edwards Jr. and Aldon Smith return, than their chances of earning a playoff birth for the first time since 2002 should still be pretty good.

Honestly, the defense only needs to be adequate for this team to make it to the postseason. Just don’t be a disaster, and the offense looks dynamic enough to carry this team to wins.

Obviously that isn’t something you want to rely on — having a great defense would be fantastic, but the Oakland offense looks capable of putting up close to 30 points per game.

Plus, aside from a long travel schedule (not to take that lightly), the schedule isn’t that bad. Four of the next five opponents are the Titans, Ravens, Chargers and Jaguars — none of whom look formidable.

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