RAIDERS season preview 🏈 Can the DEFENSE save the team again? | Yahoo Sports
the Las Vegas Raiders a new era for them what is the one big thing we should be talking about with the Las Vegas Raiders your Las Vegas Raiders this season so for my beloved Raiders I think it’s easy to say who’s Antonio Pierce as a coach I thought about that as the one big question how does the quarterback battle shake out I thought about that is the one big question but neither of those were the thing for me because Here’s the the real of it the quarterback battle shakes out I still don’t think they’ve got their quarterback of the future on the roster right now so that’s not going to and there’s nothing this year that’s going to make or break AP I don’t think so to me when I look at the one thing that will really make or break the Raiders season this year the question is can the defense save the team again because last year there wasn’t a lot of street cred for this defense coming in for the defensive coordinator or for the talent other than Max Crosby by the end of the year there still wasn’t but there were other guys Robert Spain Jack Jones on this defense that played really well and by the end of the year the defense was the way that the Raiders were winning games the their ability to sort of emulate the charge and fire and passion with which Max plays was really incredible they go out they spend $100 million on Christian Wilkins they have a lot of questions in that defense Frank I’m not going to lie about that secondary I I don’t know what to expect what I do know is that the only path for the Raiders to get to mediocrity this year is if their defense is great I think there are some really good options on the offensive side but I don’t think you got a quarterback that’s going to be able to hang with Mahomes and Herbert over and over and over again that’s not real so you need that defense to be able to minim Mahomes and Herbert while your offense gets kicked into gear if the Raiders defense takes a step back then the Raiders win four or five games this year if that defense plays throughout the course of the season the way they did particularly after AP took over last year they can win eight games this year and I think that’s why they’re the that’s the biggest question yeah and I think delving further into that I think our biggest xfactor this year is Tyree Wilson seventh pick of the 2023 draft was supposed to be this do everything defensive lineman you know he was up and down as a rook I don’t think he had a big splash but he’s got the talent we know he’s a really good player Christian wilkin’s going to take up a lot of attention obviously Max Crosby could win defensive player of the year he’s unbelievable if Tyree Wilson could be kind of that dude that third star on the defensive line all of a sudden they have one of the best defensive lines in football and that’s a good place to start if you’re going to have just if you’re a kind of a mediocre roster that has one strength having a great defensive line is the way to go and if Tyrie Wilson is that dude they could have a great defensive line Wilkins Crosby Wilson if he plays up to his draft status could be very good and keep them in a lot of games and keep them competitive and who knows like Gardner muu we’ll talk about the Colts in a second gner muu almost had the Colts in the playoffs last year I don’t know that the Raiders are set up as well as a Colts were last year but he could be that guy to kind of be a as good of a bridge quarterback as he could ever find so I I I I agree with you if the the Raiders are going to be in playoff contention it’s going to be because of their defense and more specifically I think it’s going to be because their defense defensive line ended up being one of the best in football I’ll give you one other name Malcolm C who uh got a lot of rotational play instead of Tyree at the end of the last year really blew up and here’s the advantage that Co and Tyree are both going to have there is not a single team that’s going to sit there and say you know what we got to take away Tyree Wilson this week nope all that effort’s going to Max and to Christian Wilkins right when you put all that in all C and Tyree are gonna have to do is win one-on-one matchups really I I agree with you this defensive line can be one of the best in the league
Yahoo Sports’ Jason Fitz and Frank Schwab discuss Las Vegas’ strengths and weaknesses and what can carry the Las Vegas Raiders under Antonio Pierce this season.
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15 comments
Raiders are goimg 5-12 mark is gonna fire AP next year.
Apparently, you didn't watch any Raiders tape last season.
Can the defense save the team again? The defense hasn't saved the team in decades.
I love when people who are supposed to be experts and make their money talking about sports seem to ignore facts. Wilson was not expected to start week 1, he was coming off an injury. Chandler Jones' meltdown forced him into action despite missing off-season workouts. He was NOT READY. No one thought Jimmy G-string was the answer, and everyone just held their breath waiting for him to get hurt, which took what, 4 games? So the offense that all the "experts" said would dominate came out of the gate scoring 17pts/gm, and the defense that no one thought would be any good was the best in the league in the 2nd half of the season. "Experts"
Playoffs easily, superbowl maybe
Wait..they can win 8 games this year?? How many did they win last year… basically with half a season?? More talent, more experience, full off-season….cmon Fitz….
Why do yall ignore facts. Another take of people who didn’t watch Raider games. Last team to beat the chiefs for a reason
Not 8 10-12
Save the team again from what ? The Raiders won the Super Bowl 1984 40 years ago.
It's really a status thing with all these media jokes for analysts. I don't get how you can say the franchise QB isn't on the team when sorry ass Bryce Young is still considered a franchise QB.
10 wins at least….
don’t sleep on moon e
I agree with all saying alot of these guys haven't watched much film on the Raiders QB. He went 5-5 in his starts and improved beating each team in the division in his last 4 games. Historically not a bad start for any rookie qb. He'll continue on that path and with the addition of Wilkins Raiders will finish better than expected. 10 wins minimum. RN4L🏴☠️☠🏴☠️☠🏴☠️☠🏴☠️☠🏴☠️☠🏴☠️☠🏴☠️☠🏴☠️☠☠🏴☠️☠🏴☠️☠🏴☠️☠
Defense is a big must succeed, what needs to be a major focus i feel everyone is overlooking, is the running back room. We really struggled on the ground last year, very inconsistent just like the offense all of last season. But if we’re going to succeed its going to start with the oline and the rb room, being able to have that creates a variety of different schemes you can run with playbook. Running a two tight end set would set up the defense for confusion and you could run playactions pretty effectively. It starts with the men up front and the rbs. And luke getsy
😂