Tennessee Titans at Oakland Raiders: 3 things we learned

Terrible defense

The defense has been bad all season for Oakland, and it was in typical form again as the Titans went up and down the field for 552 total yards and 42 points. They only punted twice the whole game, were 8-11 on third down, and despite Tennessee being bad most the year in pass protection, Oakland couldn’t register a single sack.

Ryan Tannehill did whatever he wanted, passing for 391 yards and three touchdowns. In fact, the only time Tannehill was even hit was on this 91-yard TD pass to A.J. Brown.

That disastrous play highlighted the biggest issue for the defense on Sunday, which was their inability to prevent explosive plays.

The Raiders are dead last in plays of 20+ yards allowed (63) and 40+ yards allowed (15). And a front seven that was once good against the run is now tied for 22nd in yards per rush at 4.1 so nothing on this unit is working.

"“Lack of execution,” Linebacker Tahir Whitehead said of the defensive effort. “Just tackling, getting the ball on the ground. Yards after the carry, yards after the catch, we just didn’t do a good job of getting them down on the ground and staying on top of the routes.”"

There is not a lot more to say about the defense at this point, and severe change needs to happen if the Raiders have the hope of truly competing in the future. Also, there needs to be a serious conversation about Paul Guenther’s job security.