Instant reactions to Raiders' blowout loss vs. Broncos

Tackling is important

It sounds ridiculous to point out this incredibly mundane football fact, but each and every week the Raiders give up points on drives and lose entire games simply due to their inability to tackle.

Against a team full of elusive and powerful players like the Baltimore Ravens, this is forgivable. But against an offense that is almost devoid of talent like the Broncos, it is pretty tough to stomach.

Patrick Graham can scheme up all the genius concepts that he wants and put his players in position to make gang tackles against the opponent, but if nobody in the lineup besides a handful of guys wants to make those plays, they won't be made.

Maxx Crosby, Robert Spillane, and the DT trio of Wilkins, Jenkins and Butler have all been reliable tacklers, but that is it. That's four players on an 11-man defense (only two DT play at a time) that you can rely on in a consistent manner, which is far from a winning formula.

These are basic fundamentals that the team is missing, and it is incredibly concerning.