HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Las Vegas coach Klint Kubiak insisted Monday he has seen enough positives in the Raiders defense to believe the talent is much better than it has shown over the past month and a half.
The Raiders are on a historic run — not in a good way — but no major changes appear to be coming.
They have given up 30-plus points in six consecutive games, tying the record held by four other teams, most recently Detroit and Jacksonville in 2020.
“I see us doing the things we said we were going to do better,” Kubiak said. "Stand behind (defensive coordinator) Rob (Leonard). Stand behind our defensive staff. Stand behind our players. I think the world wants someone’s head on a platter every time things don’t go right. But the way that I see it is that we brought people here for a reason, to get a job done and develop players for the long haul, and that’s where we’re going.”
Las Vegas has faced some high-powered offenses during this stretch, with the 38-33 victory over the New York Jets the notable exception. The Jets otherwise average 18.6 points per game.
It's not that Raiders didn't try to address that side of the ball in the offseason, most notably signing end Kwity Paye and linebackers Nakobe Dean and Quay Walker.
Pro Football Focus rates Paye 103rd out of 109 ends, and of the 79 linebackers, Dean is 16th and Walker 76th.
The Raiders made the secondary a priority in the draft and appear to have done well in selecting Treydan Stukes in the second round, Jermod McCoy in the fourth and Hezekiah Masses in the fifth. Stukes and Masses each have started four games and have combined rookie growing pains with promising moments and stretches.
McCoy, who missed all of last season with a torn ACL, is slowly getting more playing time and beginning to show why he once was considered a first-round talent.
But it appears much more help is needed throughout a defense in which opposing offenses prioritize limiting pass rusher Maxx Crosby and dare the rest of the defense to make plays.
Kubiak said much of the problem is opposing offenses have been getting off to strong starts, forcing the Raiders to play catch-up.
“We’ve had solid halves, we’ve had more aggressive halves, and we’ve had some really bad first halves,” Kubiak said. "So we’ve got to find a way to play a four-quarter game.”
He lost a fumble, but Brock Bowers continues to be perhaps the NFL's best tight end and the Raiders' most consistent threat. Bowers caught seven passes for 111 yards and a touchdown in Sunday's 38-17 loss at San Francisco, and possibly would have had a second TD if Kubiak had challenged a ruling he was out of bounds near the goal line. Bowers has three 100-yard games this season.
Kubiak would prefer to run his offense through the ground game, but repeatedly falling behind has forced Las Vegas to take to the air to make up the difference. The Raiders have had more rushes than passes just twice, and they have run the ball on less than 40% of their plays in five of the past six games. Their only victory came against the Jets when the Raiders ran on 55% of plays.
The Raiders are second in the NFL in pass protection, allowing 3.4% of sacks on drop-backs, just behind the 49ers at 3.39%. It's a tremendous improvement from last season when the Raiders were last in giving up sacks on 12.43% of pass attempts.
Situational football. The Raiders had chances to make it a reasonably close game against the 49ers if not for missed opportunities in the second half.
There was the Bowers near touchdown and the ensuing failed quarterback sneak, a offensive pass interference that wiped out a Michael Mayer touchdown and, finally, an interception in the end zone.
Mayer also lost a fumble while nearing the goal line on another play.
Stukes intercepted a pass in 49ers territory that Bowers gave back to San Francisco two plays later when he fumbled.
RG Trey Zuhn is in concussion protocol.
5 — The Raiders' losses against teams with winning records to go with zero victories. They are 4-0 against teams with losing records.
The Raiders host defending Super Bowl champion Seattle on Sunday. Kubiak was the Seahawks' offensive coordinator last season.
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