Despite what stats say, Raider ‘D’ is keeping team in games

By Anthony Carroll  |   Friday, October 24, 2008  |  Comments( 52 )

Oakland Raiders
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Here’s something you may not know -- something that, frankly, is shocking: The Oakland Raiders defense is the least penalized unit in the NFL.

Yes, least penalized.

The Raiders are the most disciplined unit in the NFL on at least one side of the football. Again, shocking. Last year, the stop unit ranked 26th in the penalty department; a decade ago it ranked 22nd; in 1970, it was 17th. Sounds good, except there were only 25 teams in 1970.

The Raiders established themselves early and often as the perennial undisciplined squadron in the NFL. They’ve seemingly backed that up year after year, decade after decade.

Now, it seems they’ve had enough of that trend -- at least the defense, led by coordinator Rob Ryan.

With just 25 penalties against, Oakland’s ‘D’ has drawn the fewest amount of yellow flags when on the field, two fewer than the second-ranked Buffalo Bills and 29 fewer than the last-place Minnesota Vikings.

Of course, the offense is a completely different story. It's tied for 27th in the NFL with 49 penalties. Yet, the unit has some legitimate excuses. The 'O' has an inexperienced QB, a few new players at key positions (Kwame Harris, Darren McFadden, Javon Walker) and it's swapped play-callers midway through the season. (Though, there were no excuses for what happened last game. It doesn’t take a genius to line up onside.)

Defensively, though, Oakland is showing it can stay disciplined this season and keep the offense in games. Even in the Week 6 34-3 trouncing at the hands of the New Orleans Saints, Oakland was only down one score, 10-3, heading into the half.

Yet, the major stats don’t necessarily show that. Because of that Week 6 second-half collapse and the unsightly 41-14 loss in Week 1 against the Denver Broncos, the Raider ‘D’ ranks 23rd in points against and 26th in yards allowed each game.

But the defense has kept the team in games:

• Week 2 at Kansas City: Eight points against, good for a 23-8 win.
• Week 3 at Buffalo: Seven points against heading into the fourth quarter. The offense to that point had settled for three field goals inside the Bills 20-yard line, failing to create any separation whatsoever.
• Week 4 against San Diego: Three points against heading into the fourth quarter. To that point, Oakland had just 15 points, two of which were scored on ‘D’. The Chargers’ comeback TD came after JaMarcus Russell fumbled on his own 13; the game-winning field goal came after a 67-yard Darren Sproles kick return.
• Week 7 against the Jets: Thirteen points against in five quarters of action, good for a 16-13 OT win.

On top of committing the fewest penalties for the fewest yards, Oakland’s defense ranks in the top five in the league in fumbles forced, top 10 in interceptions and 10th in sacks. As a result, the Raiders are plus-3 in the turnover department this year. And, while they’re not the top-rated pass defense like they were in 2006, they’re doing a better job this season of giving the offense the opportunity to put any type of points on the board and win games.

“I think it’s a great breath of fresh air having Tom Cable come in,” Ryan said this week. “To be honest, I felt a lot of stuff was pointed at the defense that I wasn’t necessarily agreeing with ... It seemed like every single game was the defense’s fault. Attribute that to whatever it is.”

In reality, it’s been much of the offense’s fault, which has only three rushing scores and five passing TDs this year.

In all, the Raiders have just one first-half touchdown all season long. Yet, they have two wins, and are all but two or three missed plays away from having four victories.

So don’t let stats do the storytelling when it comes to the Raider ‘D’.

Next up, Joe Flacco and the Baltimore Ravens offense.
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About Anthony Carroll

Anthony Carroll began writing for RealFootball365.com on Sept. 26, 2005, making him one of the longest tenured contributors to the “365” team. As a senior writer, Anthony has taken on the task of delivering original content to the silver and black faithful year round, despite having to deal...
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