Raider Nation, here’s a read worth your time. Tyler Bischoff – Athlon Sports’ Raiders analyst, and a Las Vegas local – took stock of the season this week, and his story is the one we’ve all been living: a dream start, then a hard fall.<\/p>\n
His case, in short: September’s 3-0 start was real. The defense held the Dolphins, Chargers, and Saints to 18 points a game, piled up 10 sacks and nine takeaways, and didn’t allow a single fourth-quarter point. Then October arrived. Three straight losses – the Chiefs and Bills close, the Patriots a blowout – and by his numbers the same defense has ranked dead last in the league over those three weeks: five sacks, one takeaway, and 40 points given up in fourth quarters alone.<\/p>\n
His verdict pulls no punches:<\/p>\n
\n“The Raiders beat up on bad teams and bad offenses. Once the league’s best rolled around, the defense turned into one of the worst in the NFL.”<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
To be fair, that’s his own caveat too – the early wins came against some of the league’s weakest offenses, and the losses came against its best. The truth about this team sits somewhere between September and October.<\/p>\n