5 defensive stats the Oakland Raiders need to improve on in 2019

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OAKLAND, CA – DECEMBER 09: Jesse James #81 of the Pittsburgh Steelers gets tackled by Karl Joseph #42 and Tahir Whitehead #59 of the Oakland Raiders during the first half of their NFL football game at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum on December 9, 2018 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) /

It doesn’t get much worse than the 2018 Oakland Raiders defense, and few areas need to be addressed hard to turn things around.

The NFL has become an offense driven league, but there does come the point where the defense will be leaned on to make plays. For the Oakland Raiders, neither side of the ball really got it going in 2018, but the defense had some historical lows.

Oakland was last in points per game allowed (29.2) and had a historically bad 13 sacks as a team. Fun fact, there were eleven players in 2018 that had at least 13 sack by themselves, which makes that Raiders number about as depressing as it can get.

There were some changes on all three levels of the defense for Oakland, but just how good can they be in 2019?

There is a heavy reliance on young talent, guys who are past their prime, or players who have proven to be average thus far.

Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther has undoubtedly got his handles full in turning this unit around. It will have to be a process, but there are some key areas to focus on from the jump.

Here a five defensive stats the Raiders must improve on this season.

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