The Raiders don’t need a miracle on Sunday. They need their defense to do what it has shown flashes of doing, then do it for four quarters against Matthew Stafford.
Las Vegas goes into Week 7 with a three-game losing streak hanging over it, and the matchup with the Los Angeles Rams brings another offense that can punish any lapse. Stafford, the league’s reigning Most Valuable Player, is the engine. Even with injuries around him, he remains a quarterback who can make a defense pay if it gets sloppy.
That challenge comes after a stretch that has already tested the Raiders in every possible way. Since facing Patrick Mahomes, Drake Maye, and Josh Allen, the defense has had no shortage of elite quarterback work. Rob Leonard said that preparation for a mobile quarterback is its own kind of chess match.
“When you have a mobile quarterback, you fill up rushing lanes so the guy can’t buy as much time. Where do you want to allocate your defenders?
Can we rush with four and get home? Can we get to the spot with three, four, five?
That’s at least the way I think,” Leonard said before practice on Thursday.
He drew a clean line between that and the Stafford assignment.
“So, when you’re rushing a guy that doesn’t move as much, it’s just the same conversations. Where do you want to allocate your resources?
Do we need to double a guy? Is the quarterback priority over our matchups?
That’s at least the way I’m always thinking about it. There’s pluses and minuses to how you want to do it.”
That’s the heart of Sunday for Las Vegas. The Raiders’ season has made one thing plain: this team is going as far as its defense carries it.
At 3-3, the margin has been thin, and the last three weeks have shown that the unit has to deliver more than just solid snaps. It has to create turnovers, force extra possessions, and get real heat on opposing quarterbacks.
That’s especially true because the Raiders’ offense looks different when the defense hands it short fields and extra chances. Without that help, scoring consistently gets a lot harder. With it, Las Vegas has a better shot to keep pace and put pressure on the Rams.
The Raiders should have some opportunities to make Stafford uncomfortable. The Rams’ injuries could help open a path to sacks, incompletions, or a takeaway or two, and the home crowd gives Las Vegas another layer of support. If the defense can get back to the level it showed from Week 1 through Week 3, the Raiders are in business.
And there is a bigger picture here, too. Las Vegas has come close to knocking off two of the league’s best teams over the past three weeks, all while still working through the early stages of a rebuild. The roster is still coming together, but there’s enough here to compete.
That’s why Sunday matters without needing to be oversold. A fourth straight loss would sting, but three of the first six results are the kind of thing few would have found shocking at the start of the season. A win, though, would mean a lot for a team with two winnable games ahead and a chance to build something as the season moves along.
No one can say how it will play out. But if the Raiders are going to stop coming close and finally break through, their defense has to make Stafford and the Rams work for everything.
In Other News...
Raiders Trade Deadline Could Decide Their Biggest Weakness
The Raiders have spent the offseason reshaping their roster, but one of the old issues is still hanging around. Las Vegas has seen signs of progress up front, yet the offensive line remains a concern as the season moves along, and it has become the clearest area where the front office could still make a difference.
Offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko has stressed the staffs detailed, incremental approach to the unit, focusing on small weekly gains rather than treating the line like a finished product. That leaves the trade deadline as a meaningful checkpoint for the Raiders, who have to decide whether to keep developing the current group or look for a move that could stabilize the interior and give the offense a better chance to hold up. [Read more 🡒]
Maxx Crosby Trade Talk Is Heating Up For One Complicated Reason
Maxx Crosby keeps doing what hes always done for the Raiders, which is stress quarterbacks and make life miserable even when the box score does not always fully capture it. Through six games, he has piled up 15 quarterback hits and sits tied for third in the NFL in that category, a reminder that his impact goes well beyond the sack total and into the daily problem-solving that defines elite pass rushers.
Even so, his name has not escaped trade chatter, and that is where the conversation gets complicated for Las Vegas. The league has seen rushers with similar production move for less draft capital than fans might expect, and Crosbys contract situation only adds another layer to the debate, which is why his value keeps coming up whenever teams start wondering what a premium defender is really worth. [Read more 🡒]
Raiders Could Have A Trade Deadline Chance They Can't Ignore
At 3-3, Las Vegas is squarely in the middle of the AFC picture but also close enough to the edge to treat the November 10 trade deadline like a real decision point. The Raiders have already given themselves reason to think about adding help, and one name that keeps surfacing is Indianapolis defensive tackle DeForest Buckner, a veteran lineman who could give the front a much-needed boost if the right deal materializes.
Buckner also fits the kind of conversation that tends to follow a deadline with stakes: he is in a contract year, he has the resume to draw interest, and the asking price would not be limited to money alone. For the Raiders, the question is whether a move that improves the defense now is worth the draft capital it would take to get it done, especially with other teams expected to be involved before the clock runs out. [Read more 🡒]