Las Vegas Raiders

Keys to Victory: Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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The Oakland Raiders hit the road to face the Tennessee Titans in Week 3, looking to get back in the win column. Here are three keys to victory.

Well, that didn’t go well — the Raiders dropped to 1-1 after losing their home opener to the average Atlanta Falcons.

Hopefully they can put it behind them and get things going in the right direction this week against the Tennessee Titans.

Sep 18, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones (11) runs with the ball after making a catch against the Oakland Raiders in the fourth quarter at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Falcons defeated the Raiders 35-28. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Defense? What’s defense?

Where can I start??

Good pass rush, Nope.

Good coverage? Nope.

Good run game? ah, no.

Defensively, the Raiders currently rank fourth in completion percentage, tied for second in touchdown percentage, and first in yards per attempt, yards allowed and touchdowns allowed.

FOLKS, that is bad.

The safeties look lost, the pass rush isn’t getting home, and the LBs are getting killed in every facet of the game.

This defense was supposed to take the next step this year but they have instead taken ten steps back. Norton Jr. and Del Rio are meant to be defensive guys, so why is it going all wrong?

As I said, it’s the combination of all those things above — so what can the team do to change it?

First, the defense has to put Mack in better situations to get one-on-one matchups, like Denver does with Von Miller. And it’s time to start Karl Joseph. He can’t do worse than what Keith McGill and Reggie Nelson have done this year.

The positive thought I do have is it can’t get worse, right? Also, that Norton’s defense started slow last year as well, but as the year went on the defense grew into its own.

Hopefully, that can happen sooner rather than later, which brings us to the first key to victory against the Titans.

Aug 27, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Tennessee Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota (8) rushes against Oakland Raiders cornerback D.J. Hayden (25) during the first half at Oakland-Alameda Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Containing and frustrating Mariota

A former Heisman Trophy winner and second overall pick in the 2015 NFL is what Oakland has up next after already playing the savvy Drew Brees and Matty “Ice.”

Mariota has shown flashes of brilliance in his short time in league, with good accuracy and the ability to kill you with his legs. In the Week 3 preseason matchup against Tennessee, the Titans offense went down the field with ease — here’s hoping it won’t be that easy this week.

The Raiders will have to keep Mariota’s runs to a minimum if they want to win this game. Period. They can do this by having a QB spy on some plays and the edges containing the pocket.

What teams have done is frustrate Mariota, and that is what Oakland has to do. If you watch the Titans first game of the year against the Vikings, then you would see how the Vikings (a better defense by far in comparison to Oakland’s) frustrated Mariota by creating chaos in front of him. This led to a pick-six as as well causing him to take careless sacks, including one fumble.

Ball security is an issue with Mariota, and the Raiders need to capitalize on that. A few turnovers could be all this defense needs to gain the confidence they need to play better together.

Sep 18, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (4) and wide receiver Michael Crabtree (15) react after scoring a touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons in the fourth quarter at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Falcons defeated the Raiders 35-28. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

Keep this offense going

Ah…some positivity — which the fans definitely need. This offense so far has looked great!

Carr, the run game and the OL (even with injuries) have looked good, having scored 35 points in Week 1 and 28 points at home in Week 2.

The Raiders offense is ranked first in the league in total yards, second in rushing and sixth in the passing game, although that was against the Saints and Falcons.

Next, they will be up against the Titans, who boast the 14th best total defense in the league.

On defense, Tennessee has an All-pro player in DL Jurrell Casey and a decent LB core of Avery Williamson, Wesley Woodyard, Sean Spence and Brian Orakpo.

The Raiders OL will have a stern test keeping Carr of the ground and opening run lanes, but if they can this offense can continue to roll smoothly.

Latavius Murray has looked surprisingly good, and the threat of Washington and Richard has seemed to light a fire under him. The run game will have to keep it up if the Raiders want to beat the Titans. Murray has been running a lot more physical than in the past and if he can take on workhorse role like the Raiders want him to, that will only help things going forward.

If the defense is going to continue what it has been the last two weeks, the only key will be to score as many points as possible, and hold onto the ball as long as possible.

The key here is to give the ball to Amari Cooper more often. Feed him like the Steelers do Antonio Brown, or the Vikings do with Stefon Diggs. PLAYMAKERS MAKE PLAYS!

Sep 18, 2016; Detroit, MI, USA; Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry (22) stiff arms Detroit Lions defensive end Devin Taylor (98) during the first quarter at Ford Field. Mandatory Credit: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports

Shutdown the ”exotic smash mouth” run game

“Exotic smash mouth” is a term Mike Mularkey used to describe what the Titans wanted to be on offense, and they added two bruising running backs in Demarco Murray and Derrick Henry during the offseason.

When the Titans came to Oakland in the preseason, they were exactly that.

Tennessee beat the Raiders defense up and down the field, and Oakland couldn’t stop them. I have faith that this was because it was preseason and the defenses were “vanilla”, but if the last two weeks are any indication, my faith is very low.

Tennessee has lost one of its starting offensive guards and former first-round pick Chance Warmack to injury, so hopefully that creates a hole for the Raiders to attack.

Tennessee is built to run. They have a good o-line, two game-breaking running backs and a quarterback that works well off play-action. So stopping the run has to be a focal point for the Raiders this week.

I hope we see more Demarco than Henry this week, as Henry was a Heisman winner for a reason. He has a combination of size and speed the league has rarely seen before. Jihad Ward was picked before him, just to let you know.

Let’s just hope it’s the Murray in Silver & Black that is the star of this game.