The Autumn(Re)Wind: Breaking down the Raiders defense

Adjustments against the run

As stated above, the Raiders had to make use of an extensive nickel package to alleviate the need for linebackers to be on the field. Stopping the run with 5 defensive backs on the field became Paul Guenther’s calling card in 2019.

A common strategy throughout football is to use what is called a “gap-exchange” against zone-read and RPO heavy offenses. The Raiders asked defensive ends, Clelin Ferrell, Maxx Crosby, and Josh Mauro to slant into the B-Gap or 2-Gap often on first downs. This protected the linebackers and helped the Raiders field a top 10 run defense through the first half of the season.

Paul Guenther isn’t afraid to get into an odd-front despite having personnel for an even front. One reason why he and the Raiders staff valued Clelin Ferrell was because of Guenther’s willingness to play his defensive ends in alignments that are traditionally where defensive tackles line up.

Again the point of this is to protect the 2nd level defenders. Having defensive ends who are strong enough to do this is one of the defining characteristics of the Raiders scheme on defense.