This offseason, the Raiders picked up Curtis Lofton after the veteran middle linebacker had been released by the Saints. He had big tackle numbers last season, but also had some major weaknesses in his game including his coverage skills. Those weaknesses became too much for the Raiders, and decided they would try something different in week 5 against the Broncos.
What they did was give Neiron Ball the start at outside linebacker and move Malcolm Smith inside. That was the lineup for 62% of the snaps, with Lofton coming in for the other 38%.