The Raiders need to get back on the winning track, and the 2-8 Tennessee Titans present a nice opportunity Sunday morning (10 a.m. kickoff).
In fact, the Titans, who rank 30th overall in the NFL in offense, have lost 10 straight games at home.
But if the 4-6 Raiders are to break their three-game losing streak, they’ll have to get their offense rolling again, and that won’t be an easy task with an offensive line likely to miss veteran center Rodney Hudson again against a Tennessee front seven that is ranked fourth in the NFL with 33 sacks.
Hudson, still trying to work his way back from an ankle injury that was aggravated in last week’s loss to the Lions, would be replaced by Tony Bergstrom.
Bergstrom and his mates will need to have a strong game to protect Derek Carr and give him time to re-establish a passing game that hasn’t been as crisp as it was for almost a month before the past two disappointing efforts against Detroit and Minnesota.
Outside linebacker Brian Orakpo leads the fierce Titans pass rush with seven sacks. Linebacker Wesley Woodyard and defensive end Jurrell Casey, with five each, also are active.
Oakland offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave told reporters this week that containing the Titans pass rushers will be one of his unit’s prime objectives Sunday.
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“Tons of sacks. Tons of them,” he said, when assessing the Tennessee pass rushers. “Twelve in the last three games. A lot of movement. A lot of effort. I’ve known Orakpo over the years when he was with the Redskins. A high-effort fella, just never quits. They look great on film.”
Orakpo, in fact, has six sacks over the past six games for a defense that is solid, ranking No. 6 overall, No. 3 vs. the pass and tied for 17th against the run.
The Raiders defense, meanwhile, will get its first look at the NFL’s No. 2 overall pick from the spring draft, former Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota. Mariota has thrown 13 TD passes and leads all rookie QBs with a 96.1 passer rating. The Titans offensive line has had trouble protecting him, however, giving up 33 sacks.
Mariota loves to connect with tight end Delanie Walker, and that could be trouble. The Raiders have had problems covering opposing tight ends this season, and the former 49er is Tennessee’s No. 1 receiver with 53 catches for 617 yards and three TDs.
Musgave told the media this week that this is an important game for the Raiders to regain their offensive rhythm. Over the past two weeks, the Raiders have scored a total of 27 points after scoring 30 or more in three straight games.
“We want to be a big-play offense with explosives, so we need to do more of that,” said Musgrave. “I think we all know there’s a number of factors that go into each and every play, whether it be what the defense is doing, our protection, trying to get all our guys their opportunities. We want to have a more heavy dose of those explosive plays. We missed that the last two weeks.”
