Defensive No-Show Could Prompt Changes In Secondary

The Las Vegas Raiders got badly exposed in their 45-17 loss to the New England Patriots on Sunday, and their secondary was one of the biggest problems. 

Cornerback Hezekiah Masses had some great early moments when he grabbed the starting job, but according to Sam Warren of The Athletic, Masses has allowed nine catches for 155 yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 106.9 in his last three games. 

That seemed to get him benched for Darien Porter, but Porter also struggled, and coach Klint Kubiak said the plan going forward is to play both cornerbacks. The hope is that competition will elevate one of the two corners and improve play as a result, but based on what we’ve seen we have no idea if that will happen. 

This is a roster and talent problem, really. Masses is a rookie who’s very aggressive, and New England was able to capitalize on that tendency in coverage. Porter, meanwhile, is still relatively new to the position, and he often got lost in coverage last year.

The other problem that’s tied into this is the pass rush -- or rather, the lack of one against New England. Quarterback Drake Maye had a clean pocket all day against the Raiders, and he actually made a joking reference to having time for a ham sandwich as he waited for receivers to come open. The Patriots simply accounted for the presence of defensive end Maxx Crosby and dared other players to step up, which never happened. 

That left the corners exposed, and the result was 374 passing yards for Maye to go with four touchdown passes. New England also ran for an average of 5.3 yards per carry in the contest, so basically the entire defense leaked like a sieve. 

There may not be an answer for this. The Raiders were smart to lock up the other corner, Eric Stokes, with an extension, but they simply didn’t have enough cap space to bring in more help. The Raiders’ margin for winning is razor thin, and Sunday’s loss showed just how bad that can look. 

The corners weren’t the only problem. Rookie safety Treydan Stukes got exposed as well, although he, too, played well early on. What we don’t know at this point is whether all of this was one bad game or a trend that can’t be halted or slowed all that much. The Raider will face quarterbacks Josh Allen and Matthew Stafford in the next two weeks, which feels ominous and then some.