Raiders DC Patrick Graham on Game Plan for Panthers in Week 3

Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham had to modify the defensive game plan due to the Carolina Panthers' quarterback change this week.

Las Vegas Raiders DC Patrick Graham / Darrell Craig Harris, Sports Illustrated

Las Vegas Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham had to adjust his game plan after the Carolina Panthers made a quarterback change this week.

The Panthers announced earlier this week that they will be starting veteran quarterback Andy Dalton over Bryce Young against the Raiders on Sunday.

As Graham is preparing his new game plan for Dalton, he has someone that is helping him. Raiders assistant head coach, Marvin Lewis knows Dalton very well. Lewis and Dalton spend many years in Cincinnati together. Lewis was the head coach and Dalton was the starting quarterback for the Bengals during their time there.

However, Graham is not taking the Panthers lightly.

"Plenty time to adjust but you know we always take our time to make sure we think about both quarterbacks," Graham said. "The biggest thing for us on defense, people talk about turnovers. For us the right mindset is takeaways, we want to take the ball away. We know how much they going to cherish the ball. That is the most important thing that any offensive coach is going to talk to the offensive side of the ball. To think they are just going to turn it over that will not be responsible by those guys. They're professionals, so if you want the ball, you got to go take the ball away. That is the attitude that any defensive player, any good defensive player I have been around. The point is to go take the ball away.

"We want to take away the ball from the offense. ... We are dealing with Andy Dalton, a three-time pro bowler. Who has led his teams to the playoffs for whatever amount of years? They have some young skills out there at the receiver position. The offensive line is big. The running backs run hard. You know Miles Sanders has been successful in this league. I apologize, but y'all caught me on Thursday. We are working on a bunch of stuff. It is the communication, whether it is post-snap, pre-snap, or leverage in man-to-man coverage. Different tools we could use in man-to-man, whether it was man or a version of zone. ... I am looking for the challenge of these guys. They are going to have a sense of urgency about them. You know the timing of the quarterback is going to be different. Not anything against [Bryce] Young but it is just you are dealing with a veteran quarterback who has seen everything.

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