Oakland Raiders at New York Jets: 3 things we learned

Defense takes a big step back

The past few weeks, it was the defense that was making plays to win games for Oakland, whether it was forcing turnovers or pressuring the quarterback, but on Sunday, they look like their early season form. Sam Darnold proved to be just too much for this Raiders defense, and he picked them apart with multiple explosive plays.

New York had five plays of 20+, including a 69-yard catch and run by Braxton Berrios that set up the touchdown that made it 20-3 and essentially put the game out of reach. The Raiders have now given up 55 plays of 20+ yards, which is dead last in the league.

And the pass rush was not existent on Sunday as they only sacked Darnold once and really didn’t pressure him most the game. Darnold’s ability to move within the pocket and extended plays is something the Raiders hadn’t seen in a few weeks playing against Philip Rivers and rookie Ryan Finley.

That mobility proved devastating for Oakland, and whenever you ask the secondary to cover longer than usual, bad things can happen, especially for a group that already isn’t that great. The secondary was beaten multiple times at the catch point as Robbie Anderson made multiple contested catches for big yardage. The Jets also exposed the Raiders inability to cover the middle of the field.

Oakland needs to find some answers because the Chiefs coming off a bye could be ready to explode on offense after a few down weeks by their standards.