A Look at the 2010 Oakland Raiders Defense

Last year the Oakland Raiders defense was good against the pass and terrible against the run.  They made some moves in the offseason to work on suring up their run defense when they signed DT John Henderson and drafted Rolando McClain and Lamarr Houston in the first two rounds of last April's draft.  Henderson is probably past his prime, but he should be able to give them a presence inside against the run in limited snaps.  Most of you here know how good I think Rolando is, and the Raiders, according to Saint of Silver and Black Pride, have been very pleased with what they have gotten out of Houston so far.  Since he is out of Texas I am sure there are plenty of people here familiar with his game.

All of these changes should help their defense improve from last season when they ranked 29th against the run giving up 155.5 yards per game.  They play some 4-3 and some 3-4.  They are able to do this in large part due to the versatility of Richard Seymour who they acquired from the New England Patriots before last season.  Seymour is the guy that will give the Titans offensive line the biggest challenge tomorrow.

They also have arguably the best corner in the league in Nnamdi Asomugha.  He is so good that most quarterbacks don't even bother throwing to his side.   He is part of the reason they were so good against the pass last season giving up just 206.4 yards per game good for 9th in the league.

The Titans look to establish the run anytime they take the field, but I would expect and even bigger emphasis on the run game tomorrow to make the Raiders prove that the offseason acquisitions have improved the run defense.  The most important thing for the Titans offense in this game will be to take care of the ball.  All things being equal the Titans are the better team, but that goes out the window if they turn the ball over a couple of times.