Raiders Only Get Eight Sacks in Five Games as Pass Rush Woes Continue

Even though the Raiders pulled out a win this past weekend against the Titans, the defensive troubles of the Las Vegas Raiders have come to a head after the 40-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, which revealed major issues in their pass rush and coverage concepts. Coaches Pete Carroll and Patrick Graham are actively evaluating changes, including mixing defensive calls and dialing up more pressure against upcoming opponents like the Kansas City Chiefs in week 6.

Even though the Raiders have one of the NFL's most tenacious defenders in Maxx Crosby, he's not always effective at generating pressure. Crosby is often double- or triple-teamed. Inside linemen, Jonah Laulu and Adam Butler, do little to apply disruption to opposing quarterbacks' time in the pocket. As a result, the Raiders have recorded just eight sacks this season and a pressure rate of 18.2%, ranking 25th and 20th in the league, respectively.

The team's inability to impact the pocket has left the secondary exposed. Linebackers and safeties like Devin White, Jamal Adams, and Jeremy Chinn have allowed opponents targeting them with passes to complete at 70-75%, showing expected coverage issues anytime. Importantly, speaking of quarterbacks like Daniel Jones, he has taken advantage of that by getting the ball out relatively quickly — an average of 2.41 seconds — and that has further mitigated the Raiders' rush.

Compounding the issue, Las Vegas has led in only 26.5% of its first five games, limiting opportunities to play aggressively on defense. They have a blitz percentage of 22.91%, which is below the league average. Their call sheet doesn't do a great job of keeping the defense off-balance and fails to generate many turnovers or swing the momentum of a game.

Head coach Pete Carroll highlighted the importance of winning the turnover battle following the game. "There's nothing more of a factor than the football," Carroll said. "If you don't give it up, you win 75% of the time, if you just don't turn it over. So, to be in the plus, it's important. We got to get our numbers back up to where we're a plus for the season."

To rebound, the Raiders will need improved coordination between the front seven and secondary, more aggressive scheming, and game scripts that allow them to attack opposing quarterbacks — before their season slips further out of reach.