Las Vegas Raiders X-Factors against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 15
By Alex Perl
A new voice on defense for the Raiders
This is an interesting one here, especially considering Rod Marinelli does not take the field for the Raiders, but he is vital in terms of the keys to victory. The title Marinelli took on this year was defensive line coach, but now with a shakeup in personnel, the 71-year-old veteran coach is in charge of the defense.
It is unknown how Marinelli will handle the shakeup, or if he will diverge very far from the scheme of Paul Guenther, but one thing is for sure, the team will only go as far as Marinelli and his play-calling will lead them. At this point, as embarrassing as the defense has been this season, it seems Marinelli or anyone for that matter is an upgrade over Guenther.
Marinelli must now go into a game on a short week without plenty of his defensive weapons, as Johnathan Abram, Clelin Ferrell, Damon Arnette, and Nicholas Morrow are all out for the game against Los Angeles. If he can get this team to play tough on defense, it completely changes the narrative moving forward.