The Oakland Raiders won their fourth straight road game to start the season Sunday when they traveled across the country and defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 33-16.
The Raiders dominated the game in all facets, as not only was their high powered offense firing on all cylinders, but they also came up with two big special teams plays as they recovered a muffed punt by Jaguars return man Rashad Greene, and Raiders punter Marquette King picked up a low snap on a fourth-and-23 and instead of trying to punt it he took off down the sideline and went 27 yards to gain a first down and effectively end the game.
Defensively the Raiders also had a good showing as they intercepted Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles twice on the day and held the Jaguars to just 16 points.
When asked if it was their best defensive performance of the season, Khalil Mack believes it was, via Paul Gutierrez of ESPN:
“So far, man, so far,” said All-Pro defensive end/outside linebacker Khalil Mack, when asked if it was the most complete defensive effort Oakland had produced thus far.
“It can only get better, and that’s the process. Get better week by week. Go out there and practice and get ready for Tampa Bay this week.”
The Jaguars found the end zone just once in the game, and it was late in the fourth quarter. Mack thinks this defense is capable of keeping teams from scoring touchdowns for the entire game:
“The goal is to keep them out of the end zone for 60 minutes,” said Mack, who picked up his team-leading third sack of the season. “That’s what we’re working on. We’ve got the guys who can do it.”
Mack was named an All-Pro at two positions last season, defensive end and outside linebacker, as he had 15 sacks and 77 total tackles. While he has underperformed a bit this season, as he has just three sacks and 32 tackles, he has often been the victim of being double and triple teamed, which has led to the success of his teammates.
