GLENDALE, Ariz. – Arizona Cardinals defensive end Chandler Jones has more sacks thus far than the entire Raiders defense. That's no joke, and speaks to Jones' effectiveness and the Raiders' lack thereof.
The Arizona edge rusher has been awesome this year, with 8.5 sacks, three quarterback hits, and 17 other pressures.
The Raiders, meanwhile, have eight total sacks. Three are credited to since-waived veteran Bruce Irvin, leaving five on the current Raiders roster from three players: Defensive tackle Maurice Hurst (three), rookie defensive end Arden Key (one), and defensive lineman Clinton McDonald (one).
That isn’t a deep group successfully getting after the quarterback. The Cardinals, by contrast, boast 13 different defenders with at least half-a-sack.
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SIGN UP HERE It’s a diverse pass rush, and one the Raiders offensive line must be ready to combat.
“Well it starts with Jones,” Raiders coach Jon Gruden said. “Don’t forget [Markus] Golden either, he has had double-digit sacks. They have two centerpieces that can really get after you. They push the pocket. They’re big inside. It’s hard for the quarterback to step up because of the mass that they have inside. They blitz a lot. I think Cardinals must have 10 guys with a sack. They come from everywhere. It’s a wide-range of problems. It’s good pass rushers, a diverse blitzing scheme. That’s a tough combination in the crowd noise, it’s loud there.”
“There,” is State Farm Stadium, Arizona’s newly renamed indoor stadium that can generate plenty of crowd noise when things are going well.
That could spell trouble for pass protectors going through a rough patch. They allowed 26 sacks in the last seven games entering Sunday, and at least three in the previous six. The Raiders faced tough pass rushers this season, but never a group quite so deep. The Silver and Black has to be better than before to pick up a second win.
The offense failed to score a touchdown in the last nine quartrs, despite moving the ball relatively well, and hasn’t held a solid lead in some time. That allowed opposing pass rushers to pin their ears back, and go hard after Raiders QB Derek Carr.
“We always emphasize pass rush; that’s every team I’ve been on,” defensive end Chandler Jones said, via the Cardinals' team website. “We have had some success rushing the passer, but hopefully we can have more success. Lot of plays we leave out there.”
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The Raiders' pass rush kicked up a notch last week against the Los Angeles Chargers. Maurice Hurst got his third sack, and the defense hit Philip Rivers five times. They had 11 total pressures, after totaling 59 through eight games.
Can that continue against Arizona? Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther sure hopes so. He doesn’t expect a Herculean effort, but progress is mandatory in his eyes.
“We just have to keep building off of it,” Guenther said. “We’ll continue to mix things up in there and everything kind of works in conjunction, whether it’s the rush or the coverage or a blitz in the coverage in behind it. So, we have to continue to work on those things and keep putting those things into play.”
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Gruden says the Raiders need “at-bats,” or chances to impact the QB. That involves better run defense to keep a team off schedule – stopping ACardinals running back Davis Johnson will be a chore – and establishing a significant lead for once.
That has been rare, but the odds will increase if the offensive line can keep Jones, Golden and the Cardinals pass rush at bay.