Oakland Raiders News: Can The Oakland Raiders Be The #1 Defense in the NFL? (Part One, Interceptions)

by saint on Aug 26, 2008 9:04 AM PDT

The question of whether or not the Oakland Raiders will have the #1 defense in football may sound like a bit of an oxymoron, but I want to look at the defensive side of ball one important statistic at a time. For today, let's take a look at the number of interceptions each team that led the League in interceptions attained over the past five years.

1) Interception Leaders: (Each of these teams made the playoffs)

2007 San Diego 30 (2TD) Raiders (18-2)

2006 Ravens 28 (5 TD) Raiders (18-2)

2005 Bengals 31 (1 TD) Raiders (5-0)

2004 Panthers 26 (2 TD) Raiders (9-1)

2003 New England 29 (5 TD) Raiders (14-2)

I would think that there are two very important quantifiers to take into account are the League ranks for rushing defense and also offensive scoring, as each of these will lead to more passing attempts by the opposition.

2007 San Diego 5th in Scoring 16th Rush Defense (107 YPG)

2006 Baltimore 12th in Scoring 2nd Rush Defense (75.9)

2005 Bengals 4th in Scoring 20th Rush Defense (115.6)

2004 Panthers 13th in Scoring 17th Rudh Defense (119)

2003 New England 12th in Scoring 4th Rush Defense (89.6)

Oddly enough, after further inspection, no team who was lower than 13th in scoring led the League in interceptions, the Bengals ranked 20th in Rush defense, BUT< 4th in scoring and led the League in picks.

Outlook for Oakland in 2008:

Thomas Howard and Kirk Morrison are two of the best pass defending linebackers in the NFL and it is no mistake that inteceptions have been on the rise on the Raider defense since they've teamed up in Oakland.

Michael Huff has been moved to his natural position, free safety, where he has already shown to be more of a playmaker in 3 preseason games than he did in his first 2 years in silver and black.

In 32 games at strong safety Huff had 1 pick. In 3 games, so far, he has forced a fumble, picked a pass and disrupted several others.

In 31 games from 2006-07 our former FS, Stuart Schweigert, tallied 2 interceptions..Total.

Huff will be an upgrade over Schweigert in the turnover department.

Our new Strong Safety, Gibril Wilson, tallied 4 picks at FS for the Giants last season and 7 in his three years at SS.

As far as interceptions go, he is an upgrade over Huff.

Our biggest off-season pick-up on defense is DeAngelo Hall.

In his past 47 games he has picked off 15 passes. That is an average of 5 a season. Fabian Washington had a total of 5 picks in his three seasons here and Stanford Routt had 4 over the same timeframe.

Even though the run defense was terrible last season and the offense was well short of putting up enough points to force teams to pass on them, the Raiders still had 18 picks. It looks to me that if the offense scores as a higher rate and the run defense plays better then the team has upgraded the interception "potential" to the point where they "can" lead the League in picks.

"IF" they did that and DID not make the playoffs, that would be quite abnormal.

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The run D is the key

Because the Raiders secondary and pass D looks so tough, teams will probably run the ball A LOT against the Raiders. Kinda like how with the Vikings, teams passed a ton because their run D was so tough. Gibril Wilson is very good against the run, so expect a lot of 8 in the box to stop the run, since they can probably leave Asomugha and Hall alone in single coverage.

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by MrNFL on Aug 26, 2008 9:46 AM PDT 0 recs

I Concur

Pride And Poise!!!

by saint on Aug 26, 2008 10:16 AM PDT up 0 recs

I'm still

worried about our run D. I really was not that impressed with it. When the Cards were picking up those big yards Warren, Kelly, Howard and Morrison were in the game. Gibril is going to be asked to do alot this year. I hope he can hold up. Hall is a good corner but I feel he will get beat alot this year due to the fact he takes alot of chances.

by Raider76 on Aug 26, 2008 10:53 AM PDT up 0 recs

Those Would be Two Achiles' Heels:

On the other hand, I wonder how many plays Hall will make when he is the #2 corner and being challenged more?

Pride And Poise!!!

by saint on Aug 26, 2008 11:00 AM PDT up 0 recs

I also wonder how we will do against the run?

At this point, we have to be better than the past two years.

Kelly is a better run defender than Sapp.

Wilson is a HUGE upgrade over our previous SS.

Pride And Poise!!!

by saint on Aug 26, 2008 11:04 AM PDT up 0 recs

I agree

Wilson is a huge addition for us this year. I just hope our front line does a good enough job so that he always isn’t forced to make the tackle. We need him healthy this year. The more pressure they take off him to make big plays the better.

by Raider76 on Aug 26, 2008 11:33 AM PDT up 0 recs

Wilson was big for the Giants

His ability to play the run so well as an extra linebacker helped allow the D-line to focus a bit more on their pass rush, and that worked out pretty well for the Giants. But he’s going to probably be a busy guy this year for the Raiders.

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by MrNFL on Aug 26, 2008 12:00 PM PDT up 0 recs

thats my

concern.

by Raider76 on Aug 26, 2008 12:20 PM PDT up 0 recs

Hall will

have alot of interceptions this year but he will also be victimized a few times as well. Don’t get me wrong he will make plays but there will be times when we curse him for making a bad play.

by Raider76 on Aug 26, 2008 11:31 AM PDT up 0 recs

Oh, you’re so wise, Raider76! TELL ME MORE TELL ME MOREEEE

by Amoc on Aug 26, 2008 12:15 PM PDT up 0 recs

In time

young one.

by Raider76 on Aug 26, 2008 12:21 PM PDT up 0 recs

Depth on the D-Line is largest concern

Our starters appear healthy but the isssue is whether the oft-injured Gerard Warren and Kelly will stay healthy. Beyond them is the real issue. The depth of the DEs are okay but this also ties on with how our O-line will holdup controlling precious game minutes and the ball so that the defense remains rested. Too often in years past the defensive line wilted for this very reason. #1 Defense…I won’t believe until I see it.

"I've been accused of using too many words...I suppose that's like accusing Mozart of using too many notes." Bill King

by Gerard on Aug 26, 2008 11:37 AM PDT 0 recs

Allow me to Clarify:

I believe it is possible that they “can” lead the NFL in a major Defensive category.
Interceptions is one of these categories.

Pride And Poise!!!

by saint on Aug 26, 2008 1:03 PM PDT up 0 recs

This is a test to see IF they can be the #1 Defense in the NFL:

Pride And Poise!!!

by saint on Aug 26, 2008 1:06 PM PDT up 0 recs

The problem about leading

in a category is that it is dependent upon other factors. For example a few years ago the Raiders appeared to excel in a major defensive category but only won 2 games. My recollection was it was pass defense, but as some people pointed out, other teams didn’t pass against the Raiders, they just ran and controlled to clock, knowing the Raiders couldn’t stop them, and couldn’t score either. It was a deceptive stat as most are.
The only stat I care about is the number of wins and losses at the end of the year.
Now it is true that if you lead the league in interceptions, then wins probably follow. If a team cannot run against you, and you lead the league in interceptions you are probably going to the Super Bowl. The fact that the Raiders ranked 5th in running last year yet only won 4 games tell you there were a lot of other issues that need to be fixed.
If you tell me at the end of the year that the Raider defense as a whole is in the top 3 of the league then I will tell you they will be in the playoffs. I have to believe the Raider offense will at least run as well as last year, and will be a helluva lot better passing team. I am not the least bit concerned about the receivers, the most overrated part of any team. It is not difficult to find a fast guy who can catch a football. Every year all around the league, guys drafted low in the draft start and excel as receivers.

by Laoren on Aug 27, 2008 10:14 AM PDT 0 recs

Not to kill the buzz

it really isn’t my intention, but i see the 2008 raider defense panning out as the 2007 Broncos. Two elite CB’s (Bly and Champ), a great runstopper at S (Lynch), and a shaky (at best) D-line.

I’m afraid you are going to hang your hat on your linebackers, who are considerably better than those of the 2007 Broncos.

Remember: New England won 18 last year; Oakland's won 19 in a half-decade
/The great Dane - formerly known as Claaaaas!

by Claus Vestergaard on Aug 27, 2008 1:30 PM PDT 0 recs

You are forgetting about Michael Huff:

As a FS he will be a beast in this League.

Pride And Poise!!!

by saint on Aug 28, 2008 12:49 PM PDT up 0 recs

Gibril Wilson

played FS almost as much as he played strong safety last year he is a FAR more complete Safety than Lynch

After my umbilical cord was cut, silver and black spewed out!!

by Beastusmaximus on Aug 28, 2008 5:16 PM PDT up 0 recs

Yeah man but

Give me you input on the offence line, sure good defence but we need to protect that QB we cant always count on the run , and If we dont have a good offence line are defence will wear down guys I like raider but how can we approve are offence line? Sorry For going off topic peace.

by Crossskull on Aug 29, 2008 11:28 AM PDT 0 recs