Patrick Graham and his defense did not bring their A-game on Sunday
The Raiders have relied on their defense this season, as they did down the stretch in 2023 as well.
But they can't play Superman every week; sometimes the offense has to carry their own weight.
That being said, Patrick Graham's defense was an abomination on Sunday against the Panthers. Let's look at a few quick numbers:
Carolina Panthers | Through 2 Games | Sunday vs Raiders |
|---|---|---|
Total Offensive Yards | 352 | 437 |
Points Scored | 13 | 36 |
Turnovers | 4 | 0 |
Diontae Johnson (Yards) | 34 | 122 |
Chuba Hubbard (Yards) | 78 | 114 |
Yikes.
Granted, there was a secret weapon for the Panthers on Sunday: 36-year-old Andy Dalton, who has started one game since the end of the 2022 season.
Dalton, however, was the first QB in the NFL this season to finish with over 300 passing yards and 3 touchdowns in the same game. It took him one game against the Raiders to put together the best performance under center of the 2024 season.
Marvin Lewis, Antonio Pierce's special assistant, coached Dalton for nearly a decade in Cincinnati, but still, the entire staff was left clueless about how to stop the increasingly immobile and rapidly aging Dalton. But he looked like prime Red Rifle on Sunday.
Now, for the Raiders.
Maxx Crosby was playing hurt, that was incredibly clear through the TV screen. But sadly, he was still one of our best defenders on Sunday while hobbling.
Sunday's game showed how unbelievably reliant the team is on Crosby, not only for production, but as the spiritual leader of the defense. In his absence, nobody really stepped up, and perhaps that was the most disappointing part.
Christian Wilkins did finally get to the quarterback, sharing a sack with Charles Snowden. But he has to play like the defensive tackle the Raiders paid him to be. Thus far, in Malcolm Koonce's absence, it has been on him to step up, and he has not done so yet.
While Snowden did show a bit on Sunday, Tyree Wilson and Janarius Robinson both struggled mightily.
Robinson did have an impressive pass breakup, but both he and Wilson were unable to generate consistent pressure and both got called for penalties. Only Wilson can line up offsides and still be last in the backfield.
The secondary was off their game completely as well.
Jack Jones did not have his best stuff, as he got beat on a number of routes. Nate Hobbs, after being a shutdown corner through two weeks, was torched on numerous occasions against the Panthers as well. Hobbs did have a few decent moments, but it was by far his worst outing of the season.
The defensive backs and linebackers gave up unbelievable YAC to the Panthers, and Diontae Johnson especially.
Marcus Epps and Tre'Von Moehrig are seemingly trying to prove that their borderline-elite campaign in 2023 was the exception and not the rule. Epps did leave the game with an injury, however, and it did not look good.
Missed tackles plagued the team again, and blown coverages combined with little-to-no pressure is a terrible recipe for success.
I do fully expect this unit to bounce back and be near the top of the league once again next Sunday against the Browns.
But getting picked apart by Andy Dalton, Adam Thielen, and the Carolina Panthers in 2024 feels like a sentence from some sick NFL Mad Lib.
The good news is that no matter how frustrating or embarrassing the loss, it only counts as a single game in the standings, and there are 14 games left to play.
I still believe in Antonio Pierce more than any Raiders coach in recent history to pull the weeds and get this team back on track.