The Raiders defense allowed far too many yards this season.
They ranked 26th in that category, and dead last with 6.1 yards per play. Those numbers aren’t great, though Raiders found ways to remain competitive. The team had 30 takeaways and the defense played decent on third down, which kept enough points off the board for a potent offense to surge ahead. The defense was also solid late in games, which allowed for so many of Derek Carr’s heroic comebacks.
There’s praise and criticism to go around in this inconsistent unit’s 2016 performance. Let’s take a look at each position group:
The Raiders recorded an NFL low 25 sacks this season.