Las Vegas Raiders fans were confident that the offense would improve dramatically under Klint Kubiak's tutelage, but many still had reservations about how Rob Leonard would take this defense to another level in his first year as a defensive coordinator. And the early results were not promising.
The Raiders' defense got shredded against the Arizona Cardinals in the preseason opener, and the Houston Texans had quite a bit of success against Leonard's unit in joint practices. But things changed dramatically during the second exhibition game down in Houston.
Not only did the Silver and Black's secondary cover much better, but both the run defense and pass rush looked much more effective. And while none of the starting defensive linemen played in this contest, Las Vegas' performance says a lot about how their depth may have changed up front.
Raiders' defensive line came to play against the Texans
Against Arizona, the non-starters struggled to get going. All told, the group mustered just two sacks and seven pressures; they were pretty much a non-factor, and it allowed the Cardinals' quarterbacks to comfortably shred the Raiders' secondary.
But against the Texans, with reps against their 1s, no less, Las Vegas managed three sacks and 11 pressures, and they also had two strip sacks, which were game-altering plays. Plus, the run defense improved from giving up 156 yards on 4.3 per carry to just 78 yards on 3.1 per rush.
A lot of that had to do with the big boys up front.
Thomas Booker IV, who was a starter last year, had an excellent speed rush against the Houston starting line and bolted into the backfield for a sack, then he swerved around another offensive lineman for a big tackle for loss and another run stop.
Patrick Johnson continued to impress, as he recorded a sack and punched the ball out, which changed the momentum of the ballgame. He also had three total run stops and two more pressures on the Texans' quarterbacks.
Jahfari Harvey also had his best showing as a Raider to date, recording a strip sack late in the contest, two run stops and three total pressures. UDFA Cian Slone did his thing as well, notching two run stops and a pressure, and Gary Smith III had two run stops and a fumble recovery.
Although, again, this was primarily backups playing against backups, the Las Vegas second-stringers made it tougher on the Houston starters than most expected on the first drive, and they more than held their own against the Texans' backups. They dominated at times, in fact.
While it matters most what the Raiders' starters will do when they take the field, it is good to know that the Silver and Black have some solid veteran depth pieces, as well as some promising young players to keep around and develop. At least that's what last Thursday's game showed.
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