Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther was hyped up for his blitz packages coming into the Raiders last season. Unfortunately, the NFL caught up the double A-gap blitz scheme and it took Guenther some time to adjust. He may have just hit his stride, however. In recent weeks, the Raiders defense has put more consistent pressure on opposing QBs, racking up 12 sacks in three games, including consecutive five-sack performances against the Chargers and Bengals.
Last week, rookie DE Maxx Crosby had a well documented four sack performance. He deserves credit for an incredible individual effort, but lets take a look at the entire defense and see how an individual pass rush doesn’t happen in a vacuum.