We knew the Raiders would be good this season offensively. Ashton Jeanty, Mike Washington Jr., Brock Bowers, Jack Bech, Malik Benson, Michael Mayer, and others were now playing under offensive-minded head coach Klint Kubiak. But the defense? Sunday’s performance vs. LAC may have answered that.
The Raiders have struggled on defense in recent seasons, and there is no pathway to trending up in the NFL unless that changes. Besides Maxx Crosby, who else might rise up to support the Raiders’ D? Things like getting that much-needed stop, creating a fumble, grabbing an interception, hassling quarterbacks, and scoring TFLs?
This year, though, it’s so far, so good. The defense is why the Raiders are off to a 2-0 start, and improvement was especially apparent in Sunday’s 26-14 road win at SoFi Stadium.
Yes, Las Vegas played well on defense in Week 1 against the Dolphins, holding Miami to 13 points, but it was Miami, after all. But then the Raiders built on that by limiting the Chargers to 14 points and getting 10 hits, three sacks, and multiple takeaways, including rookie Hezekiah Masses’s two interceptions. They also held the Chargers to 5-of-14 on third downs.
With the Silver and Black holding on to a 17-14 lead with 3:52 remaining in the fourth quarter, they gifted the Chargers a first down after having 12 men on the field. But then Nakobe Dean forced a fumble on Chargers running back Omarion Hampton (one of six Chargers’ fumbles on the day), and Jeremy Chinn recovered it 43 yards to the Chargers’ 16. Raiders quarterback Kirk Cousins finished the job by throwing an 11-yard touchdown pass to Cody White, who had two of the Raiders’ three touchdowns.
Dean’s play marked a pivotal moment, while Cousins’ touchdown pass to White sealed the victory. The Chargers had nothing left to offer after that. The Raiders fans at the game knew it, as they roared their approval and started partying around SoFi.
Just like last week, the Raiders defense set the tone early when the Chargers drove in the first series of the game. The Chargers were in Raiders territory, but they couldn’t muster anything more, so they attempted a field goal instead. A funny thing happened. Cameron Dicker missed the field goal. So not only couldn’t the Chargers score a touchdown, but they didn’t get the points either.
It was only fitting that the Raiders defense ended the game on a safety by Crosby, sealing it.
Here’s a summary of what the Raiders did to the Chargers offense: missed field goal, punt, interception, punt, touchdown, punt, end of half, touchdown, punt, punt, fumble, interception, safety. Even better, the Raiders forced the Chargers into penalties that stopped drives.
If the defense can keep playing like this, it won’t be wild to start thinking about the playoffs. I know, I know we are only two games in, but it’s okay to think about those possibilities, too. That’s what being a fan is all about.
The Raiders look good enough to win more than five games this year because of their defense. It goes a long way from an awful team to a respectable one.
Hezehiah Masses had a monster day (photo courtesy Raiders)
It’s been a long time since the Raiders found a way to grind it out. A game like this shows that the culture has changed: guys are starting to believe in each other and that they can survive.
If they can do that, they can eventually expect to win when they are out there. Once they get there, we can really say the Raiders are back.
The Raiders have the pieces to keep it going. Quay Walker, Kwity Paye, Malcolm Koonce, Masses, Dean, and Chinn have answered the preseason questions in the first two weeks. More importantly, the unit is developing an identity — players now expect a sack, interception, or forced fumble. A team creates its own luck when it knows how to do those things.
There are many reasons to be optimistic about the Raiders. On a day the defense made its imprint, expectations will rise, especially with the next five games against offensive-laden teams: the Saints, Chiefs, Patriots, Bills, and Rams.
The emergent defense makes this Raiders season much more interestng and intriguing.
