Oakland Raiders Could Still Have Championship D

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November 27, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; Oakland Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack (52) grabs the football on a fumble by Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1, not pictured) during the fourth quarter at Oakland Coliseum. The Raiders defeated the Panthers 35-32. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports /

Clutch Defense

Superstar quarterback Derek Carr lights it up to keep the Raiders in games and he’s clutch. His 10 fourth-quarter comebacks and game-winning drives since 2014 are the most of any quarterback. The five he has this year are among the league’s leaders.

In order for all of Carr’s late heroics to hold up, the defense has to come through. And Mack just came through for Carr with the fumble that he forced and recovered himself to win a game. But Mack hasn’t been by himself, the whole defense has been clutch.

The Raiders have faced nine drives in last five minutes of regulation or overtime leading by eight or less points. They allowed no points, forced four punts, one fumble and a missed field goal. They also forced three turnovers on downs in the clutch.

So you can say what you want about the numbers to date but you can see they come through in the clutch. I’d take a clutch defense that consistently gets timely stops over a Top-10 unit any day. The Al Davis mantra is “Just win baby” and that’s all you need to do.

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