The good folks from Football Outsiders have taken the liberty of answering several questions from us here at Silver and Black Pride Cheap Amari Cooper Jersey , and here is the second question. One will be posted every weekday this week. While yesterday’s question dealt with head coach Jon Gruden, this one is about the new Raiders defensive coordinator, Paul Guenther.S&BP: Paul Guenther’s defensive scheme looks to be a step up from what the Raiders have employed on defense for the last several seasons. What are the most important elements, skills or personnel wise, in Guenther’s scheme and do the Raiders currently have what he needs? What should the Raiders be looking for in players to fit the scheme?One only needs to look at the Curious Case of Marquel Lee to realize the truth of the Football Outsiders’ words here. Under Ken Norton Jr. and Jack Del Rio, Lee was mediocre and looked lost at times. He certainly wasn’t developing into what Reggie McKenzie envisioned when Lee was drafted, which was a complete middle linebacker. But after one training camp with Paul Guenther, Lee has been a mainstay on Levi Damien’s Baller list and has been a leader in the middle, doing exactly what we need him to do.The incompetence of the previous regime when it came to developing young defensive players was appalling Cheap Leon Hall Jersey , and it’s a minor miracle that Khalil Mack became as good as he is. Under Paul Guenther, we should expect our young players to develop into studs and Pro Bowlers with regularity.The front four that Guenther presided over in Cincinnati was quite the unit. At one point, Guenther had Michael Johnson, Carlos Dunlap, Domata Peko and Geno Atkins on his line, and they helped the Bengals become a pretty good defense. All of those guys knew how to get to the quarterback, and Guenther’s double-A gap blitz system caused plenty of confusion for opposing offenses. When Khalil Mack signs, the Raiders could have a defensive line that is even better than that one.In addition to a lack of player development, it’s also true that the Raiders often looked lost or like they are confused about their assignments under Norton Jr. In two games so far this preseason http://www.raiderscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-jared-cook-jersey , the defense has looked prepared and in control. Players have rarely been out of position, and they have not given up many big plays due to blown assignments. That alone puts them in far better shape than last year, and that’s due to Guenther and his attention to detail.A lot of football comes down to which team does the fewest stupid things. Everyone in the NFL has talent, everyone in the league excelled in college. At this level it’s about coaching and execution and avoiding mistakes, and above all, that is what Paul Guenther will bring to the Raiders.NFL odds, betting lines: Raiders play underdog to visiting Rams in Monday Night home opener On Monday Night, the Raiders will face off against the Los Angeles Rams in the 2018 season opener. The odds for the game has been all over the place as it opened as a pick’em, rose to Rams as the 5-point favorites http://www.raiderscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-derrick-johnson-jersey , then fell to the Rams being the 4.5-point favorites, and now it’s back up to 5.5 to 6 in favor of the Rams courtesy of OddsShark.Matchup : Trends : Free PicksThe Rams are coming off of an 11-5 campaign where they blew past all previous expectations to make the playoffs only to lose in the first round. On the other hand, the Raiders are emerging hungry for redemption after a disappointing 6-10 season where they lost their last four games. The game is going to be in the Oakland which should be in the Raiders favor, but it must be noted that the Rams top scoring offense last year was spectacular on the road scoring about 32 points per game. Hopefully, Gruden’s knowledge of the system will be useful to Guenther for stopping the Rams dominant offense. Obviously, without Khalil Mack our odds for defensive success against the Rams have fallen, but I’m still a huge fan of Guenther’s system and think the Raiders will be able to play well enough to potentially squeak out a win and cover the spread.

A few days ago Detroit Lions T-Shirt , one of the more surprising cuts hit the newswire when it was reported that veteran George Iloka, a six year starter for the Cincinnati Bengals, had been let go. There was immediate speculation that Iloka might be a fit for the Vikings, since he spent his first two years with the Bengals working under then-defensive coordinator Mike Zimmer. It was a reasonable assumption, as Minnesota pursued Iloka in free agency back in 2016, but to no avail. Iloka re-upped with the Bengals, signing a five year Detroit Lions Hats , $30 million dollar deal, with $18 million guaranteed.When Iloka was released, the Vikings seemed like a possible destination again, as it was thought that Iloka’s knowledge of the defense and his past relationship with Zimmer might be enough for the Vikings to kick the tires on him. It appears they’re doing more than that:Iloka and the Vikings make a ton of sense based on his history with Zimmer in Cincinnati, but I thought that the Vikes were kind of set at safety. There is an argument to be made that depth needs to be addressed at other positions, like offensive line or wide receiver, and Andrew Sendejo has played pretty well the last couple years. He was ranked as the 13th overall safety per PFF last year Detroit Lions Hoodie , and of all the position groups on the team, the defensive backfield seemed to be a low priority in terms of finding guys that can play.But Iloka brings a ton of experience and depth to an already stacked secondary, and challenges Sendejo for a starting job opposite Harrison Smith. Just because you’re already strong at a position doesn’t mean you should pass up an opportunity to get a good football player when the situation presents itself. And the Vikings appear to be doing just that.Vikings fans were salivating at a Smith-Iloka safety combo back in 2016, and now it could very well happen. He’s well versed in Mike Zimmer’s ‘Double A Gap’ defense, he’s been a starter for five years, and in that time has missed only four games due to injury. Iloka shouldn’t have any problems assimilating in to the defense, and the tough decisions for the Vikings staff on who stays and who goes in the secondary when cutdown day comes just got a whole lot tougher.So barring a snafu in contract negotiations Cheap Customized Detroit Lions Jerseys , it looks like the Vikings are adding another really good player to an already great defense. When we get more details, we’ll pass them along.4 things we learned in the Detroit Lions upset of the New England Patriots The Detroit Lions shocked the world Sunday night when they dominated the New England Patriots en route to a 26-10 victory. Here are a few things we learned from their first win of the season:Opposing teams will have to worry about the Lions run gameThe Lions finally established the run on Sunday and it brought them tremendous results. Kerryon Johnson and LeGarrette Blount were the centerpieces of the Lions offense that dominated the game. Johnson was able to break the storied 100-yard rusher streak as he carried the team to victory. Detroit took advantage of a weak Patriots front-7 and pounded them between the tackles. This set up the Lions passing game, including the space it opened downfield on a third quarter touchdown pass to Marvin Jones Jr., and kept Tom Brady off the field by controlling possession for over 39 minutes. The offensive line had trouble run blocking in previous weeks, but it all seemed to click on Sunday. As surprising as it sounds, the running game was the reason Detroit won tonight. Detroit’s receiving trio is among the bestWhile the exploits of the running game are the biggest story of the night, the Lions wide receivers had a night of their own. None of them individually jump off the stat sheet but they all played huge roles in the victory. Jones stretched the Patriots defense downfield and punished them for playing the run. Kenny Golladay found spaces in New England’s zones to cut them up for a bunch of medium gains. Golden Tate was in control of the short game www.thelionsfootballauthentic.com , taking shorter passes and making them most of them with his ability after the catch. Each receiver had at least four receptions and 50 yards in an overall incredible performance. The pass coverage may get back to 2017 form this seasonThe Lions secondary looked awful in the opening weeks of the season. Darius Slay and Glover Quin looked like they had taken a step back in the first couple of weeks. Nevin Lawson looked awful and the linebackers were having their usual struggles. Many of our concerns surrounding them were put to bed, though. Brady couldn’t find any open receivers at all and was forced to hold on to the ball way too long. He threw a deep pass into double coverage and Slay caught it for a rare interception against the former MVP. There were no major coverage busts and the Lions defense looked well-disciplined and coordinated when they dropped back. This game may explain the lack of preparation in previous gamesDetroit had a very detailed and well-rehearsed game plan coming into this game. This comes as a huge surprise after the Lions looked like they could not tell left from right in the opening weeks. This may be because Detroit looked past the Jets and 49ers to plan for the Patriots. While every game is equally important, a Sunday night contest against an NFL dynasty — who also used to employ Detroit’s head coach and general manager — is special. The night-and-day change between the team is surprising, but makes sense if you look at it through this lens. Whether or not throwing away the two opening games for a Week 3 grudge match is an acceptable thing for a coaching staff to do is another story.