Barber: Raiders’ defense falls apart in 42-21 loss to Titans

OAKLAND - The dream of a final Super Bowl for Oakland, or even one last playoff appearance, died at the Coliseum on Sunday. It departed right around the 13:20 mark of the fourth quarter, as Tennessee linebacker Jayon Brown was scooping up a Darren Waller fumble and rumbling for a defensive touchdown that would finish the scoring in the Titans' 42-21 win.

Fifteen days earlier, the Raiders had been 6-4, lined up nicely for a postseason berth. Since then they have been outscored 116-33 by the Jets, Chiefs and Titans, and have fallen to 6-7. Oakland is not mathematically eliminated, but there is more to truth than math.

The Raiders are done for 2019, which means they are done with Oakland. Next weekend's home finale will be ceremonial in nature.

The Raiders haven't done only one thing wrong over those three losses. They have been widely terrible. But what stood out most on Sunday, as it has in several games this season, is the defense. And that's a loose definition.

By the time the Titans trotted off the field, they had gained 552 yards of offense. An Alabama-vs.- Western Carolina sort of number. Only three times in history has a Raiders defense given up more yardage than that (against the Chargers in 1985, the Seahawks in 1997 and the Steelers in 2015), and all three of those wipeouts occurred on the road. By one standard, then, this was the worst home defensive performance in franchise history.

And the Titans did all that despite going into wind-down mode late in the game and settling for a total of just 23 yards on their final two possessions.

These are not Peyton Manning's Colts we're talking about. The Titans entered the game ranked 24th in the NFL in total yardage, 28th in passing yards and 25th in first downs. Granted, they have been better since Ryan Tannehill took over for Marcus Mariota at quarterback. But there's no excuse for allowing this offense to look unstoppable.

Twenty-nine games into Jon Gruden's return to Oakland, it's fair to ask the question: Is Paul Guenther, Gruden's defensive coordinator, any good?

To be sure, he isn't alone in creating this disaster. The Raiders have been beset by injuries on the defensive side. They lost safety Jonathan Abram, a first-round draft choice, in preseason. They lost middle linebacker Marquel Lee (he's finally back now) after three games, Vontaze Burfict (to a suspension) after four games, edge rusher Arden Key after eight, safety Karl Joseph after nine.

Those are real obstacles. But I guess my response to the Raiders' injury string would be similar to linebacker Tahir Whitehead's.

“No one cares what you have to go through during the week,” Whitehead said Sunday. “No one cares how many injuries you have. It matters as far as getting guys ready. But no one give a (bleep). They expect us to go out there, and they expect us to execute, no matter how much time you had to execute.”

The thing is, every NFL team has injuries. The 49ers' defense hasn't been spared in 2019. The San Francisco defense lost Kwon Alexander and Ronald Blair, Akhello Witherspoon for six games and now Jaquiski Tartt. That unit was scorched a bit by the Saints on Sunday, but has dominated at times, too.

The Raiders haven't, because (a) they don't have the depth and (b) they have defensive holes they never managed to patch. That isn't on Guenther. It's on Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock. They have torn apart the Raiders' roster, and have yet to put it back together adequately.

You can't let the players off the hook for what happened Sunday, either.

It wasn't Guenther who let Tennessee's A.J. Brown get open, then slip away for a 91-yard touchdown reception, or who missed another tackle on Brown that resulted in a 22-yard gain. That was cornerback Daryl Worley. It wasn't Guenther who whiffed against tight end MyCole Pruitt, who wound up gaining 42 yards, then missed an ankle tackle on a TD by running back Derrick Henry the very next play. That was safety Erik Harris. And it wasn't Guenther who missed a low tackle on Henry's first touchdown, a 12-yarder. That was defensive tackle Jonathan Hankins.

“It was execution,” linebacker Nicholas Morrow said. “They didn't do anything to surprise us. We knew they were gonna come in, try to run the ball, and off the run they like to get their shots off of play-action. A couple play-action deep balls they get on us. We just gotta do a better job of reading our keys, playing tighter in coverage, making the plays that are there.”

But Guenther, who had four rather average years as defensive coordinator in Cincinnati, has to take ultimate responsibility for this. His Raiders defense hasn't improved since he got here. In fact, it seems to be getting worse.

Oakland ranked 26th in total defense last year, tied for 27th in takeaways and were dead last with a paltry 13 sacks. They're better in those latter two categories in 2019, but still not good. They are currently in the bottom 10 in sacks and takeaways. And they have fallen to 28th in yardage.

And this is after the Raiders made a substantial investment in Guenther's defense, both through the draft and via free agency. The coordinator certainly had input in those decisions. He likely endorsed defensive end Clelin Ferrell, whom the Raiders took with the fourth overall pick in the 2019 draft and who has basically had one standout game as a rookie. And you know he vouched for Burfict. The former Bengal played well here but, as it turns out (and as everyone should have figured), was one blatant player-safety violation away from a major suspension.

Sunday's performance was a new low. In addition to all those missed tackles, the Raiders put little pressure on Tannehill and seemed to be getting burned on crossing routes almost every other snap. The Titans exposed Guenther's scheme at times. They got fullback Khari Blasingame isolated one-on-one deep with linebacker Will Compton in the first quarter, and likewise against Whitehead in the third quarter. Those are bad defensive matchups, and the two plays gained a total of 47 yards.

Worley took full responsibility for his poor play. He also said this about the Titans: “I just think they had a really good game plan. I don't know whether they were reading our coverages. They were just attacking leverages and weak spots in the defense at all the proper times.”

I'm not trying to put words in Worley's mouth, but “the Titans had a really good game plan” isn't so different from “our defense did not have a good game plan.”

The Raiders want Gruden - need Gruden - to sell the brand in Las Vegas next season. Anyway, that 10-year, $100 million contract makes him virtually untouchable. The same cannot be said for Paul Guenther.

If his squad can't tighten things up over the final three weeks, his job might be, shall we say, indefensible.

You can reach columnist Phil Barber at 707-521-5263 or phil.barber@pressdemocrat.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Skinny_Post.