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Raiders Mailbag: Coach Guenther's defense places a huge emphasis on containing Cam Newton

Sep 24, 2020 at 05:19 PM

Levi Edwards

Digital Team Reporter

It's always a lot easier to do this after a big Monday night win.

The Raiders are going into Week 3 undefeated as they are preparing to take on Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.

We received a lot of great questions this week, especially regarding how the Silver and Black will be able to stop Bill's new shiny toy Cam Newton at quarterback.

Here are a few answers to some of your questions left on Facebook. I am always open to answering anymore if you find me @theleviedwards on Twitter or Instagram.

Let's see what you got.

Alec Penfield from Lusk, Wyoming asks...

How's the defense preparing to handle Cam Newton after his hot start these last two games?

The Raiders are definitely going to have to contain Cam Newton in the pocket.

Cam Newton is extremely explosive and it will take more than just the defensive line to contain him. Expect to see linebackers Cory Littleton and Nicholas Murrow stepping up their game to making sure Newton doesn't use his legs for big gains against the Raiders.

Defensive coordinator Paul Guenther will definitely be looking for a collaborative team effort to stop Cam Newton on Sunday.

"Well, when you're playing against a guy like this, it's an 11-man responsibility," said Guenther. "If one guy's out of whack, everything gets out of whack. Everybody's got to play their responsibilities just about every week. This one's just a little bit different with some of the quarterback-run things that they have and some of the things they present in the run game."

Rob Marlin from Virginia Beach, Virginia asks...

What is the OL depth chart going into Week 3 with the injuries?

Despite the Raiders offensive line depth running a bit low, the 'next man up' mantra has been extremely effective.

The Raiders are down two Pro Bowl starters with Trent Brown (calf) missing Monday night's game vs. the Saints and Richie Incognito (achilles) being placed on IR Wednesday.

The Silver and Black have been able to get increased production from the rest of the starting line. Team captain Rodney Hudson, Gabe Jackson and Kolton Miller have been playing lights-out so far and have given Derek Carr ample of time to make plays from the pocket in the first two wins of the season.

The Raiders have also been able to see their backups step up and play well. This includes Denzelle Good, who is the third string guard who moved over to right tackle, and 2020 4th -round draft pick John Simpson out of Clemson.

The Raiders also might be getting back second-string right tackle Sam Young (groin) who was limited in practice Wednesday and Thursday.

William Justin West from Baldwin Hills, California asks...

How has this year's team been limiting penalties? I like it, just curious if we can keep it up.

The Raiders have looked like a very disciplined team so far this season. They've only been penalized six times in their first two games of the season. That is the second-least amount of penalties among the NFL, with the very least being, of course, the New England Patriots.

Jon Gruden has done a great job of making sure his young team is well-coached and doing their jobs in adversity and I have every reason to believe that it will keep up throughout the duration of the season.

J. Lavatai Panapa from Kapolei, Hawaii asks...

Are we gonna open up the play calling down field a bit more this game? We have youngsters at the wideouts who can stretch the field so defenses can't stack the box to stop Josh Jacobs.

Josh Jacobs is a beast.

This is something that's not new to this point. His level of play and ability to be an every-down back will definitely help open up the passing game for Derek Carr and his young receivers.

In the win against the Saints, Derek Carr showed glimpses of making some great play-action passes to his young receivers including one on a fourth-down goal line touchdown to Darren Waller. He also spread the ball around, finding 11 different pass-catchers, and we saw him take several shots down the field.

As long as the offensive line continues their dominance in blocking for Jacobs and Carr, the passing game will open up a lot more. This will give opportunities for guys like Ruggs, Edwards and Renfrow to make big plays against New England and down the stretch of the season.