Raiders Notes: Laid-back defense not his concern, Kiffin says
The Sacramento Bee, Calif.
Sep. 11--ALAMEDA -- On a night when the defensive line came nowhere near the opposing quarterback, the Raiders didn't blitz once during 10 third-down situations in their season-opening loss to the Denver Broncos.
It's one of the reasons Denver quarterback Jay Cutler torched the Raiders' secondary.
So why don't the Raiders blitz more? Raiders coach Lane Kiffin won't get into defensive schemes, leaving it up to defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and owner Al Davis to sort out.
Kiffin won't even delve into hypothetical situations of what the defense could do with more pressure on the quarterback, considering it has two of the highest paid cornerbacks in football -- Nnamdi Asomugha and DeAngelo Hall.
"I'm not going to really get into 'if I was the defensive coordinator what I would do ...' because that doesn't really matter," Kiffin said. "I'm the head coach, I oversee everything and I control what I can control. Do I have the exact belief we do on defense? No, but it's hard to have the exact belief that we do. So, it is what it is."
The Raiders were one of five teams not to register a sack in Week 1. All five teams without a sack lost their season openers.
The Raiders were 28th in the NFL last year with 27 sacks. Last season, the Raiders blitzed just 15 times on third down, and they blitzed on pass plays just three times Monday. Sunday's opponent, the Kansas City Chiefs, allowed four sacks in their loss to the New England Patriots.
Ryan and Davis discuss the defensive game plan on a weekly basis.
And with two of the NFL's most athletic linebackers in Kirk Morrison and Thomas Howard, it would seem to make sense the Raiders would blitz more, especially after having success with it during the exhibition season.
That's up to Ryan, with a lot of say from Davis.
"Rob and the owner are always in communication," Kiffin said. "For the most part, I let Rob do his thing over there. He has a belief in certain things and he has a conversation with the owner about that. So, that wasn't the way the game plan ended up the other night."
Transactions -- The Raiders re-signed tackle Seth Wand and placed backup guard-tackle Paul McQuistan on injured reserve.
