Raiders' Defense Shines Against the Detroit Lions

A solid performance by the Las Vegas Raiders' defense was squandered while the Silver and Black's offense continued to spin their tires in the mud.

DETROIT, Mich.-- The Las Vegas Raiders' defense was determined not to have the same type of performance against the Detroit Lions that they did against the Chicago Bears.

By all accounts, the Silver and Black's defense played admirably in what would ultimately be another losing effort. The Raiders' defense forced three turnovers, one of which was an interception returned for a touchdown by Marcus Peters. 

With the three turnovers on Monday night, Las Vegas' defense has only eight turnovers this season. 

On Monday night, Las Vegas' defense kept the Lions within striking distance most of the game, as they were down by only nine points entering the fourth quarter. 

Maxx Crosby and the Las Vegas Raiders' defense played admirably against the Detroit Lions / © Lon Horwedel-USA TODAY Sports

The Raiders' defense is built to do exactly what they did against the Lions. While they might give up yards, the ultimate goal is to keep the opposing offense from scoring touchdowns and hold them to three points.

Las Vegas' defense was on the field for nearly 40 minutes on Monday night. Although they gave up about 500 yards, they held the Lions' offense to only two touchdowns and four field goals while scoring a touchdown. 

The defense checked many of the boxes necessary to win a game. They kept the Lions out of the end zone for the most part; they forced three turnovers and gave the Raiders' offense the ball in favorable positions multiple times. They also did a better job of getting off the field on third down, as Detroit converted on only 43 percent of their third downs. 

Even more notable was that Las Vegas' defense played so well without one of their starting Linebackers, Divine Deablo.

No matter how tough of a position they were in, the Raiders' defense stepped up to the plate repeatedly until the game was out of reach. Eight weeks into the season, Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham has exceeded expectations.  

As Las Vegas nears the halfway mark of the season, what was considered an offensive team is a defensive team. While there might not be many household names on the defense, there are undoubtedly talented players whom Las Vegas can build around in the future. 

The Silver and Black will return to Allegiant Stadium to take on the New York Giants on Sunday, November 5, at 4:25 p.m. EST/1:25 p.m. PST.

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