Mailbag: How can Raiders fix run defense?

We’re putting last week behind us as it’s time to move forward as the Las Vegas Raiders have a chance to get back on track in Week 4 against the Cleveland Browns. But, of course, we have the mailbag to get to and start the weekend off right.

Q: What can we expect from the Raiders to fix the run defense?

A: I think this is a situation where, in my opinion, the stats don’t necessarily match the tape. For example, Las Vegas is giving up 152.7 rushing yards per game which is 30th in the league, but the defense as a whole has the fifth-highest PFF grade (71.9) against the run in the league. Yes, I know the latter is a number too, but it’s based on the tape or players exciting their assignments/being in the right place.

The problem has been the Raiders’ tackling. PFF grades that too and the Raiders are dead last at 29.2, and the site has them down for 37 missed tackles in three games so a little more than 12 per outing. I think the stats will improve once that gets cleaned up as guys are in the right spots more often than not, they just aren’t making the plays consistently which leads to long runs and ugly stat sheets.

A: It’s bad, like really bad.

I don’t know what else to say, lol. Guys are taking bad angles and leaving their feet to make tackles. It has to get cleaned up for the defense to improve.

Q: What am I missing? Las Vegas re-signed Andre James and he’s ranked pretty high by PFF (last time I checked anyway). But when I watch a Raider game and a play blows up—a sack or tackle for loss—all I see is James not picking up a stunt, or James not able to get to the second level to block a linebacker. Is he as good as the metrics say, or is he as bad as the eyeball test shows?​

A: James had a bad game in pass protection during the season opener—that’s where he got beat for a sack on one of the stunts you referenced—but he’s been pretty good in that department over the last two weeks. However, I would definitely agree that he is below average as a run-blocker. James has always struggled to get a push in the running game, especially against nose tackles.

Photo by Brandon Sloter/Getty Images

I was a little surprised they re-signed him in the offseason, but I think that had to do with how the interior offensive line market seemed to explode this year in free agency as several guards ended up getting in the $15 to $20 million per year range. So, keeping James around at $8 million per year and using the draft to add a guard (Jackson Powers-Johnson) didn’t seem like such a bad deal since James is a solid player.

All that being said, Pro Football Focus’ grading has James ranked 25th among centers with a 58.6 mark overall right now. So the metrics (or that one at least) are starting to lean away from his favor and it’s his run-blocking that’s killing him with a 51.0 grade. In other words, he is playing worse than the organization likely thought he would be.

Q: What overall grade would you give the Raiders so far this season? Feel free to break grading down by management, coaching, offense, defense and special teams if you wish.

A: Overall, C-. I expected the Raiders to be 2-1 at this stage, hence the below-average grade, but the surprising win against the Ravens keeps them out of the D/F range for me.

Offense, D. Everyone knew they wouldn’t be an offensive juggernaut this season but having the league’s worst rushing attack (and it’s not even close to the second-worst) has become beyond maddening. The only reason why it’s not an F is because I can’t fault Gardner Minshew for showing the flaws that I expected him to have.

Defense, B-. This might be somewhat controversial because I know the stats haven’t been good, but I honestly don’t think the defense has been that bad so far this season. That being said the missed tackles have been outrageous and Dave Canales got the better of Patrick Graham last week.

Special Teams, B. To be honest, special teams aren’t a huge point of emphasis for me. Daniel Carlson and AJ Cole have been solid so not many complaints here.

Management, C. Brock Bowers has looked really good to give Tom Telesco some credit, but the rest of the draft class hasn’t done anything and not being more aggressive when it comes to the offensive line and the quarterback decision is looking bad right now.

Coaching, C-. Antonio Pierce’s infamous punt in the season opener still pains me and letting the team get complacent last week falls on his shoulders. It’s getting harder to defend Luke Getsy with the lack of a running game and his refusal to adjust the system. But he has been able to scheme guys open in the passing attack, they just aren’t getting the ball.

A: I hope so. My fear is that Getsy has always been zone-heavy and is slow to adjust, so I can’t say for certain if or when he’ll change to a gap-run approach, but it’s pretty clear that it’s the best for Zamir White and the running game as a whole. The tape and the numbers back that up.

Q: The offensive coordinator is so predictable. Run run pass kick. Run run pass kick etc. The defense knows exactly what the Raiders are going to do. Thank you.

A: Ironically, the Raiders rank dead last in the NFL for first down run percentage at 9.62 percent. The next closest team is the Buccaneers at 20.75 percent. So, if anything, it’s pass, run, pass kick, lol.

A: Last week was a total failure and Pierce deserves plenty of blame for that. I’ve also been critical of his clock and game management in the past, but I think that’s the result of him being a young head coach and still learning the ins and outs of the job.

However, I don’t have a problem with Pierce calling out the team in the media as I thought it was warranted based on how the Raiders played last week. That’s a tactic plenty of NFL head coaches—and professional sports in general for that matter—have done in the past.

Phil Jackson was known for doing that and he has more than two hands full of NBA Championship rings as a head coach. Obviously, AP has a long way to go to reach that level but my point is I don’t have an issue with the approach of using the media to send a message to the locker room.

I know how this fanbase works and people’s emotions fluctuate week to week, but I think you have to give Pierce at least a couple of years before calling for him to be fired. The constant re-shuffling of head coaches has plagued the Raiders over the last 20-plus years, so let’s try to be patient.

That being said, if the Raiders get blown out again like last week, my blood will start boiling too! LOL.

A: I believe there’s a typo and this is supposed to say “wasn’t trusting the pocket”, for clarity.

Getsy can call more short/quick passes to help get the ball out of Minshew’s hands faster. The problem is, and TDL listeners/watchers have probably heard Marcus say this a few times, Getsy’s short passing game is pretty basic.

So when defenses know it’s coming, it’s not hard to stop which will lead to more pass protection issues because the offensive line is expecting and blocking for the ball to be out quickly. On short passes, you want to be more aggressive as an offensive lineman so that pass rushers can’t get their hands up to bat the ball down, and the pass should be thrown before they can get to the quarterback anyway.

The other play-calling adjustment I’d like to see Getsy make is more designed bootlegs. If Minshew is going to scramble and leave the pocket anyway, might as well do it by design and get everyone on the same page where the receivers are moving in sync with the quarterback instead of adjusting on the fly.

And yes, Minshew had this problem in Indy.

A: I think the biggest problem is having a below-average talent at quarterback makes the rest of the offense’s issues even worse. Minshew and the offensive line is a great example as the line definitely lacks some talent but Minshew missing reads, holding onto the ball too long and scrambling around heightens the problem. On top of that, Getsy’s play-calling isn’t doing the offense any favors as mentioned above.

On the other side of the ball, I think the defensive line’s lack of depth has become an issue. Last week I felt they really missed Malcolm Koonce with Maxx Crosby being banged up and struggling to get pressure. Also, none of the rotational defensive tackles and ends are stepping up, and teams have been taking advantage of them when they’re in the game. At linebacker, Robert Spillane is a good starter but the rest of the position group leaves something to be desired, and the secondary is just young.

Ultimately, I think it’s a mixture of both offensively while the defense is struggling with a lack of depth and talent.

A: 1) Cody Whitehair is already on a short leash and it wouldn’t be surprising to see Powers-Johnson get more playing time this week. And Getsy isn’t losing his job after four games when Minshew has been missing reads.

2) I don’t think that would make a difference.

A: Powers-Johnson took 21 snaps at right guard and right guard only, per PFF. Dylan Parham was dealing with a foot injury during the week, so the rookie was likely giving Parham a break once the game got out of hand.

I do think the coaching staff/AP needs to do a better job of reeling Crosby in, but I understand wanting to keep your best player on the field especially since the position lacks depth, and Crosby is the type of player that wants to play every snap. It’s tough to balance but one the staff has to find. A guy like Tyree Wilson stepping up will help.

That’ll do it for this week’s mailbag. Thank you all for submitting questions and, as your weekly reminder, if you’d like to have your questions answered in a future column, tweet them at me, @MHolder95, email them to [email protected] or look for our weekly call for questions on the site. The latter will continue to publish on Thursdays.