Chance our D plays better than our O this year?

RaidersAreOne

Watching Lamarr Houstons interview, at the end Paul mentioned our offence has clearly sputtered this preseason while our defence is ranked #3 in total yards. This got me thinking, sure its just preseason, but our first team D has looked really impressive thus far. I know our O will pick it up, but I feel the departure of Hue might hurt the offence to the point where we see a slight decline in its play. The addition of Tarver and Allen has been HUGE for our defence and I can see them, along with new player additions, catapulting us into a top 16 defensive unit.

Now my question to you guys is do you think our defence will outplay our offence this year? Please shy away from the "Anything is possible, but no" type answer, im really curious to see indepth what everyones opinions are of the newly updated defence and how it compares to our O. Does anyone believe that the D will be keeping this team afloat rather than the O for the first time in years?
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TiberiusRising · Joined: 03 Jan 2008 Posts: 7862

I think our Offense is the stronger unit.
However I think our Defense will be more consistant than the offense. Which to me has been a big issue in the past. Being able to play good defense for 4 quarters.

Dessie · Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Posts: 4293

ZoomWaffle · Joined: 25 Apr 2010 Posts: 5299 Location: United Kingdom

I still gotta go with offense. Even if Palmer doesn't improve from last year, we are still looking at a 4000 yard passer and 1300 yard rusher at minimum, assuming McFadden stays healthy. We managed to finish 11th last year in YPG, and that was with Bush burning out the last half of the season. Our defense should play at a respectable level. I expect the line to be the foundation- they will be a force, but we have uncertainty at LB and CB. I see our defense ranking much better than they did last year, mainly due to a severe reduction in penalties and playing more disciplined football.

I'm expecting offense to finish top-10 in both YPG and PPG and defense to be top-20 in yards and points allowed.
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ZoomWaffle · Joined: 25 Apr 2010 Posts: 5299 Location: United Kingdom

big_palooka · Joined: 30 Mar 2006 Posts: 21757 Location: ATL

Until I see a Raiders defense stop the run w/ some consistency, I'm not buying. The last decade they've been a mess at run stopping.

Starting to look/sound like that was scheme, accountability, etc. in the Davis scheme.

We shall see.
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holyghost · Joined: 18 Jan 2007 Posts: 5703

Dessie · Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Posts: 4293

RaisinBran · Joined: 18 Aug 2008 Posts: 9421 Location: 925/805

I'm pretty skeptical at this point because it's just preseason, but our D definitely looks better so far.

I think our offense has too much big play potential to let the defense outshine them this year. We shall see.
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NickButera · Joined: 14 Sep 2009 Posts: 5974 Location: Nevada

This same offensive personnel has proven they can be top 10. Our defense hasn't proven they can play well as a team together yet. Based on the actual samples we have, I say offense.

Now, our offense may take a hit, and our defense will probably get better.... but I highly doubt they both swing so much that the eclipse eachother.
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Pozzi · Joined: 21 Aug 2012 Posts: 352 Location: Carson City, NV

Nowhere to go but up on defense compared to last year. Especially with Allen/Tarver taking over now.

big_palooka · Joined: 30 Mar 2006 Posts: 21757 Location: ATL

RaiderX · Joined: 04 Jan 2007 Posts: 19764 Location: Crown Town, CA

The defense has definitely improved. We'll see how and if they can be consistent in the regular season. Can we finally seal the edge and prevent big plays in the run defense? Can we get pressure off the edges consistently with Houston and Shaughnessy and the DL rotation?

Wanna see how much Spencer can help us looking at his struggles back in San Fran. I think Bartell will be fine getting back into playing after the bad neck injury.
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LivingLegendWFC · Joined: 28 Oct 2009 Posts: 11042

Until I see it in the regular season I still give the edge to the offense because they have shown more in regular season recently, but I do think the defense looks much improved and they could be the strength of our team I just have to see it when it counts to buy in.
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