What Critical Aspect of Raiders Will Be Tested vs. Chargers

The Raiders' Coaching Staff's Confidence

In Week 1, the Raiders' defense came up big, forcing a turnover early in the second half. Defensive end Maxx Crosby's pressure on the quarterback led to an Isaiah Pola-Mao interception. Pola-Mao has grown from a rookie just a few seasons ago to a playmaker for the Raiders this season.

Before practicing this week, Raiders Defensive Coordinator Patrick Graham raved about Pola-Mao.

"Well Zay [Isaiah Pola-Mao] has been one of my favorites for a long time. When he was a rookie, we got him in there early. He's just growing as a field general, I mean, to use that term. He's a safety, so he's patrolling the middle of the field pretty well, and that's good to see," Graham said.

"The more reps he accumulates, the more the feel in terms of how the splits are telling him a story. 'Where is this receiver lined up?' Everything's telling us a story back there, and the more reps he gets, the better off he'll be. I mean, it's open audition for ball hawks. So if you want to get on the field and you want to play more, be a ball hawk. We try to make that point to the guys, and he's buying into it."

As the Raiders enter their Week 2 matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, Carroll hopes Pola-Mao and the rest of the Raiders defense can continue to tackle well. This is especially the case for a defensive backfield that is sure to be tested by Jim Harbaugh, Justin Herbert and the Chargers.

Carroll shared his thoughts on how the unit tackled in Week 1 against the New England Patriots.

"If you take the first preseason game, when you juxtapose that, I hope I'm using this term correctly, with the first regular season game, it was night and day," Carroll said.

"So to me as a coach, to see that improvement, it's a credit to the players, all the hard work, because for us, we pointed it out from the first game and said, 'Okay, here's how we're going to go about correcting it and how we're going to work it.' And the guys really bought into it, and it showed up the first week, and we'll see how it goes this week, but we got to keep working it."