Raiders hunger for sack launch
Defensive end Damontre Moore described signing with the Raiders this week as a “big switch-up” vocationally, given that he was previously working at Home Depot.
Moore, 26, was a third-round draft pick by the Giants in 2013. But he played in just seven games for two teams from 201617, and with no NFL job for the first 13 weeks this season was pulling night shifts doing project distribution at stores near his home in Frisco, Texas.
“We were in charge of going in there and setting up all the displays, unloading the truck,” Moore said Wednesday. “When you go in (to Home Depot) and see the doors or the light fixtures and stuff like that, we had to build up the display and set it all up.”
After working an 11-hour
night shift, Moore said, he would take a two-hour nap and then go work out to stay in football shape. He said he never wondered whether his NFL career was over. “I’d be lying if I said you don’t start getting worried,” he said. “But I always knew I would get that chance, and just whenever that chance comes, I’ve got to be ready.”
It helped, Moore said, that teams kept bringing him in for tryouts. Moore worked out for the Seahawks, Browns, Raiders and Bills and “got positive reviews every time,” he said.
“It uplifted my spirits to keep working, this is still obtainable,” he said. “But in the meantime, you can’t just sit on your hands. Got a wife and a family that I’ve got to provide for.”
Moore’s tryout with the Raiders, with whom he also spent part of training camp in 2016, came in early October. With their defensive end group depleted this week, the Raiders signed Moore and Kony Ealy, who also has not appeared in a game this season. Moore has 10 sacks in 52 career games, including 5.5 for the Giants in 2014, while Ealy had back-toback seasons with five sacks for Carolina in 2015-16.
To generate a pass rush, it’s clear the Raiders need help from somewhere.
Through 12 games, the Raiders have totaled just 10 sacks, fewest in the NFL and nearly half the total of the Patriots and Giants (19), who are tied for second fewest. The Raiders have only one game with multiple sacks this season — Week 4 against the Browns — and one player on their roster with multiple sacks this season in rookie defensive tackle Maurice Hurst.
The Raiders’ final four opponents this season all rank in the top 11 in fewest sacks allowed — Pittsburgh is fourth, followed by the Chiefs (fifth), Bengals (ninth) and Broncos (11th). Asked what he hopes to see from his pass rush in those games, Raiders defensive coordinator Paul Guenther said: “Just try to get the guy on the ground.”
“Obviously, the numbers aren’t quite there,” Guenther said. “Just continue to improve. There were a few times in the game” against Kansas City on Sunday “that I rushed three guys and decided to drop some guys in coverage. When I do that, they have to understand the coverage has got to hold a little bit longer so the rush can get there. If I call a blitz or a four- or five-man pressure, we’ve got to get home and win the one-on-ones.
“When they’re scripted for you to win against a back, against a tight end, against a guard, or whatever it is, we’ve got to win those one-on-ones.”
Even winning against Pittsburgh’s linemen doesn’t guarantee a sack, as Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger has been notably hard to bring down. Roethlisberger, who has thrown an NFL-high 517 passes, has been sacked 17 times, fewer than 26 other quarterbacks.
“He’s a big guy and he can move around in the pocket,” Guenther said. “He’s run a couple times, I think one time against Carolina he ran for about 40 yards. But he’s just elusive. He’s a big guy to bring down. So we’ve got to wrap our arms, grab cloth on our way through on the rush, and make sure we get our hands on him.”