The Las Vegas Raiders’ defense has looked significantly better during the last few weeks, relative to the beginning of the year. What have been the key changes on the defensive side of the ball?
The Las Vegas Raiders defense, to the relief of Raiders fans everywhere, has looked like a completely different unit since they were embarrassed at the hands of Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Las Vegas in Week 7.
Prior to the Week 8 matchup with the Cleveland Browns, the Raiders were giving up an average of 32.8 points per game. That is, needless to say, not good. Their defense could not stop the run or the pass, arguably equally bad at both.
It is almost impossible to consistently win in the NFL when requiring your offense to put up 33 points or more each week, just to stay competitive.
Following the loss to the Buccaneers, the Raiders had sacked the opposing quarterback just seven times, as a team, through seven weeks. They looked worse pressuring the quarterback as an entire defensive line than some individual players did on other teams.
Without any sort of pressure on the quarterback, the Raiders defense was simply not able to stop the likes of Brady, Josh Allen, or even Teddy Bridgewater from, essentially, doing whatever they wanted in the pocket.
During the last three weeks, this has changed.
Throughout the three game win streak the Raiders have put together, with wins over the Browns, Chargers, and Broncos, the Las Vegas defense has managed to allow just 14.7 points per game to opposing offenses. They held Cleveland without a touchdown and did not allow a touchdown to the Broncos until garbage time, late in the fourth quarter.
What has changed over the past three weeks for this Raiders’ defense? Have they just begun to learn to play with one another? Is it simply the fact that they have played inferior opponents? Let’s take a look at the key reasons the Silver and Black have made a significant improvement on defense over the last few games.
Las Vegas Raiders: Keys to the recent defensive improvement
3. Time of Possession
Okay, yes, this is technically an offensive statistic. However, sometimes the best defense is staying on offense. In the two games that the Raiders defense truly shined, defeating the Browns and the Broncos, the Las Vegas offense absolutely dominated the time of possession battle.
While Las Vegas lost the possession battle to the Chargers in Week 9, it was a much more narrow race than the preceding and succeeding games.
In Week 8, the Raiders won the battle holding the football for just shy of thirty-eight minutes, compared to the Browns twenty-two minutes of offense. Two weeks later, the Raiders held the ball for thirty-seven minutes of game time, compared to Denver’s twenty-three minutes.
The way the Raiders are built as a football team, the best method to win games is to allow the defense to make big plays when they need to, but count on the offense to carry most of the load. Continuing to run the ball down the opposing defense’s throat with Josh Jacobs and Devontae Booker seems like a good way to do that.
During the Raiders’ three game win streak, and marked defensive improvement, the Raiders have averaged over 190 yards rushing per game. Do not underestimate the significance of that number in the defensive improvement that has been seen lately in Las Vegas.
Las Vegas Raiders: Keys to the recent defensive improvement
2. Defensive Pressure
Over the course of the three game win streak for the Raiders, the defense has finally begun to get some pressure. Seven team sacks through six games played was not ever going to get it done, no matter what quarterback was under center for the opposition.
While the Raiders have not improved a ton in the sack total category, they have been able to make the opposing signal-caller uncomfortable. Even if this is not necessarily in the box score, it makes a world of difference. Especially for the Raiders’ defenders in the secondary.
The Raiders have given some unlikely names more of an opportunity in the past weeks, such as Chris Smith and David Irving. The improvement of Clelin Ferrell has helped as well, as he already has twenty-two quarterback pressures this season compared to the twenty-six that he recorded all of last season.
Moreover, Jon Gruden and Paul Guenther have mentioned a narrowing of the defensive playbook over the last few weeks, likely giving the Las Vegas defenders a higher level of confidence in their understanding of the defense.
Last Sunday was the best performance of the season for the Raiders’ pass rush. According to Pro Football Focus, the Raiders had twenty-two pressures, five quarterback hits, and fifteen quarterback hurries in Week 10 against Drew Lock and the Denver Broncos. Lock was never comfortable in the pocket, and this made everything much easier for the rest of the Raiders’ defense.
The Raiders will look to continue this upward trend against the Chiefs on Sunday, albeit, seemingly, without Clelin Ferrell, as he was added to the COVID-19/Reserve List.
Las Vegas Raiders: Keys to the recent defensive improvement
1. Turnovers
Without a doubt, the biggest reason for the swing in success for the Raiders on the defensive side of the ball is the improvement in the turnover department.
Simply, if you enhance the number of opportunities you have to put points on the board, the higher your chances of winning. If you decrease the number of opportunities your opponent has to put points on the board, the higher your chances of winning.
Throughout the first six games of the season, the Raiders forced just three turnovers. On the other hand, they had turned the ball over eight times in those same games. Losing the turnover battle with a -5 margin after just six games is not an efficient way to have a successful defense.
Beginning in Cleveland in Week 8, though, the Raiders began to turn this statistic around. In their three wins against the Browns, Chargers, and Broncos, Las Vegas has turned the ball over on their opponents seven times, compared to giving the ball away only once on offense.
As previously touched on, the Raiders are at their best when the offense is on the field for a majority of the game. Winning the turnover battle with a +6 margin in only three games makes a team incredibly difficult to beat.
Even without a supreme amount of talent on the defensive end, the Raiders could still manage to turn that aspect of their team from a weakness to a strength, if they can find a way to continuously get the ball back for the offense.
While that may be a big ‘if’, the rest of the league better watch out if they do.