Oakland Raiders: Jason Tarver’s Defense Pushed Around Yet Again In Week 2 Loss

By Kevin Saito @Kevin_Saito on September 14, 2014

With California suffering through a heatwave of epic proportions, state authorities encourage everybody to avoid using major appliances until the evening, lest we force power outages from an overworked electrical grid. It would appear, though, that a massive power outage occurred in the city of Oakland on Sunday afternoon – at least for the guys wearing Silver and Black.

After adding the likes of Justin Tuck, LaMarr Woodley, Khalil Mack, Antonio Smith and Derek Carr, there was an optimism surrounding the Oakland Raiders that hadn’t been seen since the early part of the century when a guy named Rich Gannon was running the offense. Despite that sense of renewal and rejuvenation, the Raiders have stumbled out to an 0-2 start to the 2014 season and have looked very bad while doing so.

So who is to blame for Oakland’s poor start?

It would be easy to point the finger at a rookie quarterback or players some say are “over the hill” like Tuck, Woodley or Smith; after all, their former teams let them walk for a reason, right? Maybe you’d point to OC Greg Olson or perhaps even HC Dennis Allen for the Raiders’ stumbling and bumbling start.

And while they are all worthy candidates, the biggest culprit for Oakland’s poor start is DC Jason Tarver.

Despite Tarver’s reputation as the football braniac with a million different schemes and blitz packages, the so-called “mad scientist” has simply appeared “mad” thus far this season. Having added some pieces like Smith, Tuck, Woodley, Mack, Tarell Brown and Carlos Rogers, as well as having some young talent like TJ Carrie, Chimdi Chekwa and Justin Ellis becoming strong playmakers in their own right, Tarver has talked about how excited he is about the defense he would be unleashing upon the league.

And a lot of people bought into it and the idea that a revitalized defense would lead the Raiders back toward relevance again. So far, though, it appears that Tarver has sold everybody a bill of goods.

In two weeks of action, the Raider defense has looked beyond terrible. The defense gave up 402 yards of total offense to the New York Jets. Geno Smith carved them up for an 82 percent completion rate on his way to 221 yards, a touchdown and a 96.6 QB rating.

Against the Houston Texans, they looked even worse. Ryan Fitzpatrick – he of the career 77.8 QB rating and 28-49 record as a starter – looked like the second coming of Joe Montana, as he posted a 14-for-19, 139-yard, two touchdown and 129.1 QB rating day.

The Raiders lost to the Texans 30-14, but in truth, the game wasn’t even that close.

The common denominator to Oakland’s two abysmal showings thus far is the pathetic play of the defense. Aside from being torched by QBs who aren’t exactly among the league’s elite, Jets RB Chris Ivory broke their backs two weeks ago with a 71-yard touchdown gallop. Texans RB Arian Foster gashed them for 138 yards and a touchdown. Simply put, the Oakland defense hasn’t been able to stop anybody or anything.

The biggest problem Oakland has had is the absolute lack of defensive pressure. Both Smith and Fitzpatrick had all the time in the world to sit back in the pocket and pick apart the Raiders’ defense. Any quarterback, given the amount of time the Raiders’ first two opponents have had, will look like world beaters.

And that falls squarely on Tarver’s shoulders.

Where are the exotic blitz packages and defensive schemes that were supposed to keep opposing offenses on their heels? To this point, the mad scientist’s defense has accounted for a total of a two sacks and virtually no sustained pressure on the QB. To put it bluntly, Tarver’s defense, with all of its shiny new pieces, has done absolutely nothing but get pushed around.

Yes, the offense has its own share of problems. But defense wins championships and can cover for a less than stellar offense – just ask Trent Dilfer and the Baltimore Ravens.

Tarver has yet to put his players in a position to succeed. The talent is there, but thus far, Tarver’s defense hasn’t shown itself capable of competing for a CIF championship, let alone an NFL title.

Kevin Saito is a fiction writer, sports junkie, history nerd, and NFL contributor to www.RantSports.com Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, or on Google