Through the first five games of the season, the Las Vegas Raiders struggled to get pass-rush production outside of star defensive end Maxx Crosby. Pro Football Focus credited Crosby with 19 pressures and Malcolm Koonce was the only other defender to crack double digits with 11 during that timeframe. However, Week 6 against the Tennessee Titans was a different story.
Crosby still did his thing with a team-leading six pressures and two sacks, but the rest of the unit also contributed as the Raiders logged more than 11 pressures for the first time since the season opener, racking up 21, per PFF. Additionally, Cam Ward was sacked six times by four different defenders, five players recorded multiple pressures and nine had at least one.
This was the type of performance Las Vegas has been looking for over the last month, so let’s flip on the tape and see how it happened.
This is the best pass-rush rep of Jonah Laulu’s young career and it might be the cleanest win he’s ever had.
He sets up the outside spin move perfectly by stemming his initial path inside, which gets the right guard to redirect and helps widen the lane in the B-gap. Then, the defensive tackle puts his athleticism to work, spinning and clearing the guard in the B-gap before using his arm with what’s called an “ice pick” to pin the guard’s outside arm and keep the guard from getting hands on his chest.
Finally, Laulu finishes the rep by grabbing cloth and bringing Ward down for the sack.
The play that gave the Raiders all the momentum; Devin White’s strip sack.
Las Vegas comes out in a five-man front with both linebackers walked up on the line of scrimmage. Also, Jeremy Chinn is in press coverage against a wide receiver in a reduced split (near the offensive line). That makes it more like a six-man front because the offensive line now has to account for Chinn as a blitz threat.
So, the Titans slide their protection to the left or toward Chinn while the right tackle sticks to account for Maxx Crosby on top of getting help with the chip block from the tight end. That leaves White unblocked as a free rusher, and he capitalizes by wrapping up and poking the ball out, while Tyree Wilson gets just enough pressure to fall on the ball for the turnover.
This is a great playcall by Patrick Graham and even better execution from the players.
Graham calls a green dog blitz, which means both linebackers and Chinn are going to rush the passer initially, but Chinn peels off to cover the running back who works across the formation on a swing route. That puts the back who stays in pass protection in a bind because he has to eye Chinn initially and then pick up White when the safety drops in coverage. As a result, the linebacker gets another win as a blitzer.
Additionally, both defensive tackles pinch toward the center, which draws the guards inside. That also helps White win by allowing him to be one-on-one with the running back after the back is essentially forced into executing a dual-read, eying Chinn before picking up White. Meanwhile, Malcolm Koonce does a good job of collapsing the pocket by turning speed to power against the left tackle, and Crosby fights through a chip block and beats the right tackle with a handswipe move.
So, with pressure from both sides and up the middle, Ward has nowhere to go and Crosby finishes the rep with his first sack of the game.
This is basically the same play call as the previous play. The biggest difference is that Adam Butler drops into coverage late to help take away a hot route. Also, since it’s a green dog blitz, Chinn gets to rush the passer since the running back stayed in to pass block.
Roberts is the free rusher this time since the left guard follows the 3-technique defensive tackle (Laulu) inside, while Crosby wins around the edge again. Thus, Ward is quickly running out of time and has nowhere to run, so he just throws the ball in the dirt at the running back’s heels to avoid taking another sack and getting called for intentional grounding.
This time, Graham does a good job of getting Crosby a one-on-one matchup by walking both linebackers up on the line of scrimmage pre-snap. The Titans respond by moving the running back closer to the line so that he can pick up White if White blitzes. Also, the right guard has to stay inside to make sure Elandon Roberts doesn’t blitz, leaving the right tackle on an island against Crosby.
From there, Crosby just gets a quick win with a hand swipe move for his second sack of the game.
Here, we’ll look at White’s other momentum-changing play on Sunday: the interception right before halftime.
The Raiders have a couple of line games called with an E/T stunt on the right between Wilson and Bulter, and a T/E stunt on the left with Laulu and Crosby. Wilson does a solid job of catching the left guard by surprise as the penetrator on the E/T stunt, which allows him to win at the point of attack just enough to escape the guard’s block when Ward drifts out of the pocket.
Granted, Wilson can do a better job of breaking down to get the sack. However, he gets pressure and buys Laulu enough time to win around the edge and make contact with Ward when the quarterback lets the pass go. As a result, the ball sails in the air and White gets under it to create the turnover.
Finally, Las Vegas’ pass rush definitely benefited from a few miscues from Tennessee in pass protection, and the play above is a great example.
The right guard and center clearly aren’t on the same page, as they both stick out a post arm but neither picks up Fotu. Offensive linemen use a post arm to help their teammates in pass protection, not as a tool or technique to block their man. So, the guard is expecting the center to block Fotu in the protection call and vice versa.
Meanwhile, the 317-pound defensive tackle just has to run through a couple of arms to capitalize by getting the sack. Also, Crosby winning around the edge forces Ward to step up in the pocket and into Fotu’s arms.
Again, what made Sunday’s performance special from the Raiders’ defense is that they got contributions from several players outside of the team’s superstar. And as a byproduct, Crosby’s job was a little easier as he received more one-on-one opportunities.
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