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Ken Norton Jr. Ruining Oakland Raiders Defense

By Carl Cockerham

Nov 1, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. encourages the defense before the start of the game against the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports
Nov 1, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. encourages the defense before the start of the game against the New York Jets at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports /
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August 30, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. in a preseason NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals defeated the Raiders 30-23. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
August 30, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. in a preseason NFL football game against the Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals defeated the Raiders 30-23. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Strategy and Communication

In the first two games of the season, the Raiders defense gave up over 1,000 yards. They gave up some big plays from getting straight-up beat and others from not knowing what to do. Offenses are good too so you have to live with losing some battles.

But blown assignments because not every man knows his role on a given play inexcusable.  Against the Atlanta Falcons, they got beat deep because the corner expected help and didn’t get it. Then things improved when Karl Joseph entered the starting lineup, making coverage calls.

So Raider Nation thought the Raiders finally fixed that problem. But in Week 6, Norton struggled to call the defense in and the Raiders paid for it. Anytime the Kansas City Chiefs shifted formations, it confused the Raiders.

Remember, Del Rio took over defensive play-calling for last year for the same reason. We’re in Week 6 of Norton’s second year now so that kind of stuff shouldn’t happen anymore. You can’t play when you don’t know what to do so the Raiders have to correct that.

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