National Football League

Three and Out: Oakland Raiders at Tennessee Titans

Updated Mar. 4, 2020 1:07 p.m. ET

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Sep 25, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Oakland Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree (15) carries the ball as Tennessee Titans cornerback Perrish Cox (20) defends during the second half at Nissan Stadium. The Raiders won 17-10. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Three and Out is a weekly series that will examine three areas where the Oakland Raiders played well, and three areas where they didn’t.

After a 17-10 victory over the Tennessee Titans, the Oakland Raiders are 2-1 on the season. It wasn’t easy, and it certainly wasn’t pretty, but a win is a win.

It’s been an interesting start to the season, to say the least. Winning a shootout on the road, dropping the home opener, having a historically bad defense through two weeks, and then having the offense and defense switch roles in a second road victory.

It doesn’t have to make sense, and a lot of times with football it doesn’t make sense — it only has to work. That was the case in Week 3 — the Raiders simply just got it to work.

As always, there are areas where the team played well, and areas where they didn’t.

Let’s start with the positives. Here are three areas Raiders fans should feel good about following Week 3.

Aug 27, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders safety Karl Joseph (42) stands on the field before the start of the game against the Tennessee Titans at Oakland Alameda Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

1. The Rookies

The biggest surprise of the day came in the early morning of Sunday, when Adam Schefter tweeted out that Karl Joseph would be inserted into the starting lineup.

It was known he would play, but to start? That was a surprise. Better yet, Joseph appeared in 90 percent of the snaps, only missing time to get an IV to help with cramping. And even better than that — Joseph led the team in tackles, with ten on the day.

Joseph’s best play might be one that doesn’t even show up in the box score. On a blitz, he forced Marcus Mariota to scramble out of the pocket, and teammate Bruce Irvin forced a fumble.

It was an impressive debut for the 2016 first-round draft pick, and Raider Nation should feel very optimistic about Karl’s future in Silver and Black.

But Joseph wasn’t the only rookie who impressed on Sunday. Sixth-round pick Cory James also made his debut as a starter, replacing Ben Heeney at inside linebacker.

So Joseph led the team in tackles, but guess who was right behind him? James, with seven. Including a beautiful tackle for a loss on Derrick Henry.

James was also competent in coverage, which is a big upgrade for the defense. Having played in 96 percent of the snaps, the only time Cory missed was after that hit on Henry, he sat out a couple of plays with some shoulder soreness.

All in all, it was a great day for the two rookies. Both should be staples in the starting lineup for the rest of the season, and hopefully for years to come.

2. Michael Crabtree

Michael Crabtree is very good. For my money, he’s the best number two wide receiver in the NFL — no offense to Eric Decker.

But Crabtree, time and time again, has proven to be a reliable weapon for this offense. After recording 85 catches for 922 yards and 9 TDs in 2015, Crab is picking up right where he left off.

After a day in which he posted 8 catches for 102 yards, here is what Crabtree is on pace for:

101 receptions, 1,173 yards and 5 TDs. But Latavius has surprised with three consecutive games with touchdowns, so it’s only a matter of time before Crabtree picks up the pace there.

Crabtree is such a luxury for this offense to have. He operates as a fail-safe — a sure-handed receiver who can make tough catches on third down.

And he can also be a deep threat, who hauls in jump-balls thrown by his quarterback.

As you can see, he did both on Sunday.

3. The Secondary

Week over week, there was no bigger improvement than that of the secondary.

After getting torched for an average of 404 yards per game through the first two weeks, Mariota was held to 214 yards passing, completing 17 of 33 attempts. Most importantly, Mariota threw zero touchdowns and two interceptions. He also fumbled once, which was recovered by a member of the secondary, Reggie Nelson.

Sean Smith, who was on the receiving end of much of the torching those first two weeks, had a bounce back performance against Tennessee. On six targets, Smith only allowed one catch for 18 yards. He also had an interception, in which he ripped the ball away from Rishard Matthews.

But the star of the show was David Amerson. Which has become a regular statement for him since he joined Oakland early in the 2015 season.

Amerson allowed only 4 catches for 38 yards on 11 targets, and he had five pass breakups, one of which led to an interception by Reggie Nelson.

Next: Three and Out: The Negatives

Sep 25, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Tennessee Titans running back DeMarco Murray (29) is defended by Oakland Raiders cornerback David Amerson (29) and outside linebacker Malcolm Smith (53) on a 5-yard touchdown run at Nissan Stadium. The Raiders won 17-10. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

1. Run Defense

For as much of an improvement as the defense made, there was one area where they seemed to have taken a step back. And that was the run defense.

The Titans racked up 181 yards on 25 carries, good for a ridiculous average of 6.2 yards per carry. Tennessee’s only touchdown on the day came via the ground. DeMarco Murray did most of the damage, totaling 114 yards on just 16 carries, good for an average of 7.1 ypc. He is the one that scored the touchdown.

The run defense has actually been trending in the wrong direction since the season began. Week 1, the Saints totaled 88 yards on 22 carries. Atlanta ran for 139 yards on 29 carries. And then Tennessee ran for 42 more yards on four less carries.

So what’s going on?

It starts up front. The front four (or sometimes from three, depending on the formation) are struggling to win at the line of scrimmage. For the most part, the team is not controlling their gaps, and huge holes are being opened up by the opposing offensive line.

And from there, tackling has been a struggle.

But Jack Del Rio and Ken Norton Jr. got a little more creative against Tennessee with blitzes and pressure, so hopefully they can find some ways to get the run defense patched up.

2. Menelik Watson

There isn’t an Oakland Raider that is more frustrating than Menelik Watson.

D.J. Hayden might be an obvious counter to that, but he’s just bad. We know he’s bad and we expect him to be bad. The same can be said for Ben Heeney.

But Menelik? He’s actually not that bad — and potentially the opposite. He might even be good. And that is what is so frustrating.

In 2015, Watson was holding his own, looking like he would live up to those second-round pick expectations. And again this season, he has impressed in his short time at right tackle.

Key words: short time.

If it’s not one thing, it’s another. An achilles, a foot, an ankle, a knee, a groin…and now, a calf strain.

It just might not be in the cards for Menelik Watson to be healthy, and more importantly, to stay healthy.

3. Drops

Few things in football are more annoying than a dropped pass. Especially a dropped pass that was supposed to be an easy catch. Especially a dropped pass that was supposed to be an easy catch that would have converted on third down.

Several of those happened against the Titans on Sunday. In total, there were four drops by the wideouts, and Amari Cooper’s was the worst of them all. His would have converted for a first down, but instead, the drive ended in a punt.

Carr was 21 of 35 for 249 yards and 1 touchdown. Without those drops, his day would have been much more efficient, and there is no question that the drops lost the team points.

Cooper and Seth Roberts are the two that standout, but Walford has now dropped two passes on the season. So really, just about the entire group needs to get it together.

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