Week 4 snap counts vs Colts: Raiders spend nearly entire game in nickel defense

You figure if you’re facing a team like the Colts which has a dominant offensive line and whose rushing attack is one of the better in the NFL that the Raiders would load up to stop the run. But that’s not what happened in Indianapolis on Sunday.

From the first snap of the game, the Raiders were in their nickel defense. Or 4-2-5 alignment. The foursome of Gareon Conley, Daryl Worley, Karl Joseph, and Erik Harris played every single snap while nickel corner Lamarcus Joyner was on the field for all but two snaps.

The two starting linebackers were Vontaze Burfict and Tahir Whitehead. But after Burfict was ejected for a roughing penalty, Nicholas Morrow came in.

The Raiders also went for pass rush or run stop at the defensive end spots with Clelin Ferrell, Maxx Crosby, and Arden Key getting the most snaps and Josh Mauro getting the fewest of the four.

To try and make up for this in the run game, the Raiders had a steady rotation at defensive tackles. Johnathan Hankins, PJ Hall, and Maurice Hurst each played around 50% of the snaps with Corey Liuget working in with his first action as a Raider.

The emphasis on protecting against the pass is somewhat odd against a team known for controlling the ground game. Then again, the Colts were down 7-0 by the time their offense took the field and were quickly down 14-0 early, so putting their nickel defense in the game early and keeping them in seemed to be the right move. The Colts would run the ball just 18 times in the game, including just 11 carries for Marlon Mack. And yet even with five DB’s on the field, Mack still only averaged 3.5 yards per carry and the Raiders left with the 31-24 victory.