Raiders defense lagging behind everyone's expectations, even the players

The Oakland Raiders defense have somehow become worse as a unit this past season. Despite being pretty bad last season, the Raiders have not gotten much better. Paul Gutierrez of CSN Bay Area runs through all the crazy numbers.

Consider that the Raiders are giving up scores on over half their drives, they're averaging nearly a sack less, opponents are completing over 70% of their passes, teams are averaging over 400 total yards per game, are converting over half their third downs into first downs, and are averaging just over 31 points per game, which is currently the worst rate in Raider history since 1963.

Players seem very surprised by the poor defensive performance so far. Michael Huff talks about those concerns with Gutierrez.

"I’m definitely surprised," Huff said. "I came out, I was the one buying in, believed in the scheme, believed in the coaches, believed in everything. I’m not staying away from that.

"Watching on film, we see what we can be. We’re still one play here, one play there. It’s there to be had. We just got to make the plays."

There are injury concerns. The Raiders still need to get their starting cornerbacks back in place to become a complete unit once again, as Huff is currently playing out of position at corner rather than safety. But the results through four weeks have to be mighty distressing.