Raiders change to muddy game
Broncos coach Vance Joseph changed offensive coordinators this week in pursuit of a “cleaner brand of football” that has eluded Denver for the past two months.
Raiders coach Jack Del Rio, meanwhile, changed defensive coordinators on Tuesday because he wants to muddy the game up in a way Oakland rarely has this season. Del Rio fired Ken Norton Jr. and replaced him with John Pagano, who attended Fairview High School in Boulder and was the defensive coordinator of the Chargers the previous four seasons. He had been a defensive assistant for Del Rio this season before this week’s promotion.
“I just felt that we needed a change,” Del Rio told reporters on a conference call Wednesday. “It wasn’t comfortable. It wasn’t easy. In fact, it was very difficult to do. At the end of the day, I felt like I had to do it to give us a spark, give us a chance. I had to shake things up. We can’t just continue to operate the way we’re operating defensively.”
At the heart of the Raiders’ defensive issues are two major problems. First, the Raiders have forced a league-low six turnovers this season, and none of those have been interceptions. Every other team in the NFL has picked off at least three passes.
Oakland is also tied for last in third-down defense, allowing opponents to convert on 46 percent of their attempts.
“The net effect of being minus-nine this year, when at this point last year we were plus-10 in turnover ration, that’s a big one,” Del Rio said. “Turnovers and third down, obviously, are the keys to playing good defense. We’ve got to be much, much better there.”
Del Rio said he doesn’t expect the Broncos to make wholesale changes on offense under interim coordinator Bill Musgrave, who ran the offense in Oakland last season. Broncos coach Vance Joseph largely echoed those sentiments when asked about preparing for Pagano, saying, “There are going to be some things he calls different than Ken Norton, but as far as the overall scheme of things, that won’t change much.”
For his part, Musgrave said he expects Pagano’s defense to be “aggressive and, at times, exotic.”
“We’ll have our hands full with the unknown and the unscouted looks on Sunday,” he said.
The turnover at coordinator this week speaks to seasons neither the 3-7 Broncos nor the 4-6 Raiders saw coming. The teams were a combined 21-11 last season and entered the season with playoff expectations.
“I’m surprised by both of our seasons, really,” Del Rio said. “I really think the AFC West is a really strong division, and I think it’s a little bit surprising that both of us have had struggles this year.”