1 Issue the Raiders Must Address Immediately to Become Competitive

The Las Vegas Raiders had arguably their worst all around performance of the season last Sunday.

Raiders' Failure

The Raiders' loss to the Indianapolis Colts witnessed Las Vegas' defense allow the Colts to convert 10 of their 12 third down attempts last Sunday. That is unacceptable for any defense, let alone a defense like the Raiders' which has played well overall this season minus a few plays.

Following the Raiders' loss to the Colts, Raiders Head Coach Pete Carroll noted how critical it was that Las Vegas could not get off the field.

“Yeah, they were seven-for-eight in the first half. They were able to get the conversions. We had calls in. You have a game plan, things that you're trying to get done and they just out-executed us in the throwing and catching part of it and we weren't able to get off the field. That's why they sustained their drives, and they only had a few in the second half, but that was the issue,” Carroll said.

“The stat line is, it's an even-looking game. You would never think the score would be like that by looking at the stat line – in almost any aspect of it from run, to pass, to penalties, you name it. In sight of that though, the game is – we have to get off the field. We've got to make our plays when we get our chances.

Prior to practice earlier this week, Raiders Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham noted that the key to producing better results on third down is to do a better job of forcing third and long. For that to happen, Graham noted that the Raiders must improve on second down, specifically.

"The thing to focus on, make it less manageable third downs. You look at last week, like five or six of them were four or less. So, to me, it's me doing a better job of those second-and-10s that we're forcing and give them to get them to be third-and-10, so it starts there and then putting the players in the best position to execute for what they do best,” Graham said.

Las Vegas Raiders DC Patrick Graham | Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated

“But really took a hard look at those second down plays, because we're forcing a lot of second-and-10s because the guys are doing a good job on the run game on first-and-10, they're staying back on the early on pass game in terms of no shots, so do a better job there with those second downs."

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