Raiders Need to Tighten Late-Game Defense

Lapse against Bears -- and especially opposing tight ends -- keeps Raiders from improving to 3-1

The Raiders would be 3-1 this week, with three consecutive victories, if not for a late defensive lapse Sunday vs. the Bears in Chicago.

The question is, can the defense learn from its mistake so it doesn’t happen again?

The Raiders had just taken a 20-19 lead late in the fourth quarter, thanks to a 41-yard Sebastian Janikowski field goal. After a touchback, the Bears began their next possession at their own 20-yard line with just over 2 minutes remaining in the game.

After Bears running back Matt Forte gained 6 yards on first down, Khalil Mack sacked Jay Cutler on second down for a yard loss, before Cutler’s third-down pass went incomplete. Chicago then faced a fourth-and-5 play from its own 25 with 1:30 left. But Cutler connected with tight end Martellus Bennett for 7 yards and a first down to keep the drive alive.

The Bears then picked their way downfield, moving to the Raiders’ 34 in seven plays to set up Robbie Gould’s game-winning 49-yard field goal in a 22-20 Chicago victory.

After the game, the Raiders knew they had let a victory slip away.

Oakland defensive end Justin Tuck told Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle that it was almost a helpless feeling as Cutler used short, quick drops and passes to avoid the Raiders pressure and keep the drive going.

“You try to get your hands up and bat one (pass) down,” he said. “But they dinked it and dunked it and took the defensive line out of it.”

And, the Bears knew where to go when they needed that crucial fourth-and-5 catch: Bennett.

Through four games, the Raiders have been unable to contain opponents’ tight ends. On Sunday, Bennett had a career-high 11 catches for 83 yards and a touchdown. It’s the fourth straight game in which the Raiders linebackers have been unable to stop the tight end, and it certainly seems apparent that every opposing offensive coordinator knows that going in.

This Sunday, when the Raiders host the 4-0, AFC West-leading Broncos, tight end Owen Daniels – who has 12 catches for 61 yards and a touchdown so far this season – will likely be a big target for Peyton Manning.

Now, Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio knows his team needs to rebound and get better at protecting a lead late in games. He liked his team’s effort in Chicago, but not the result.

“We came in, we played very hard, very gritty,” he told reporters. “We just didn’t make enough plays at the end.”

Especially when it came to covering the tight end on a fourth-and-5 play that could have sealed up victory No. 3.

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