Las Vegas Raiders Have Some Work to Do in Week 2
It was an inconsistent outing for the Las Vegas Raiders defense in their season opener.
Although the Silver and Black secured their first win of their season, there were points of the game were the Raiders defense simply broke down.
Panthers running back Christian McCaffery was able to post 96 yards in 23 carries and even quarterback Teddy Bridgewater had four carries for 26 yards.
Down the field, the Raiders defense gave up 270 passing yards to Carolina.
The Raiders defense can’t make this a norm for the season.
And in Week 2, as veteran quarterback Drew Brees comes to town with tight end Jared Cook and running back Alvin Kamara as his primary targets, the Silver and Black cannot give away almost 300 passing yards.
In addition, Kamara and running back Latavius Murray ran for a combined 64 yards in 27 carries. Perhaps not as a big as a running threat as McCaffery, but the rushing game must be shut down.
The major issue really is the spread offense. Luckily, Brees doesn’t run the ball as Bridgewater did in Week 1. Brees will stay in the pocket, which allows the Silver and Black secondary to focus primarily on covering the short-to-long range.
Looking at Brees' stats from Week 1, he won’t throw the ball long. He’s 41 and has to conserve his arm. It’ll be typically short passes and screens followed by a run or two to get the Saints set up for a short third down.
The big thing the Raiders defense can and will bring from Week 1 is the major stop they had on fourth and inches, securing the victory for the Silver and Black.
“It was a hard-fought battle during the whole game,” Raiders defensive end Clelin Ferrell said after the game on Sunday. “At the end of the day man, when the game was on the line, we have to block all that out, just line up and go.”
Ferrell admitted that his defense didn’t perform well on the field in the season-opener. But the defense delivered when they needed to.
The Silver and Black's defense have some work to do this week as it prepares for their historic home opener in Allegiant Stadium on Monday.
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