ALAMEDA — The Raiders defense had a bad preseason. There’s no way to sugarcoat it — that’s the blunt truth.
Yes, it was just the exhibition schedule, but the Raiders defense gave up yards in bunches, didn’t look composed against the run, and did little to assuage concerns that the 2017 unit would follow in the footsteps of the underwhelming 2016 operation.
Derek Carr and the Raiders offense has a chance to be so good that they will only need a league-average defense to seriously contend for the Super Bowl, but the Raiders defense didn’t look anything like a league-average outfit in the preseason.