The Oakland Raiders have turned themselves into one of the hottest and most exciting teams to watch in recent weeks as they have put together complete efforts on both sides of the ball en route to three straight wins. The most recent one came against a hapless Cincinnati Bengals squad to move to 6-4.
Oakland is now in prime position to snag one of the two Wild Card spots in the AFC, especially when you consider the strength of their schedule for the remainder of the 2019 NFL season. They are also in the mix to win the AFC West along with the Kansas City Chiefs, as well.
The offense has really clicked thanks to a resurgent year from Derek Carr and some help on the ground with impressive rookie running back Josh Jacobs. However, one of the primary reasons behind the team’s newfound success has been the improvement of the defense, especially the pass rush as they have done a much better job of generating pressure on opposing quarterbacks and allowing the offense more time with the ball.
According to Scott Bair of NBC Sports Bay Area, Maurice Hurst believes that the pass rush will be key in ensuring they rack up more victories down the stretch:
“We’re finally finding our groove and starting to rush well as a group,” Hurst said. “That’s more important that you think. We’ve had to switch spots and rotate guys around the line. We’ve lost some guys along the way, but we’ve gotten to a point where we’re comfortable with what we’re doing even with new guys coming in. That speaks volumes to how we have been prepared.
“It’s something we have to keep going if we want to keep winning.”
In his first year as general manager, Mike Mayock seems to have nailed his first draft class as players like Clelin Ferrell and Maxx Crosby have made considerable impacts upfront for Oakland. After some slow starts, the rookies have begun to show that they can get after the quarterback and look poised to get better with more game experience.
The Raiders’ pass rush is especially important because the team has still struggled to defend opposing passing attacks. The secondary has flashed some competence on select drives, but they still remain a large work in progress and looks to be the weakest part of this particular Oakland roster.
Regardless, the Silver and Black look poised to make some serious noise as the season continues to wind down. They get another favorable matchup when they head to New York to take on an inconsistent Jets team this weekend.
