At first, I was confused. I had no idea who Houston was, and why we didn't use our pick to draft an offensive lineman. I immediately went onto YouTube and typed in Lamarr Houston, expecting to see some fat defensive tackle. Instead, I saw a small, strong, and dominating player that was both a run-stopping machine, while possessing some very impressive pass rushing skills.
It didn't take me long to jump on the Houston Bandwagon. I remember how excited I got when I would read reports of the OTAs that took place and how Houston would get into fights with other players. Someone with some Raider Swagger, great!
When I heard that he was moving to defensive end, I was again, confused. Why would the coaching staff do that? We already have Richard Seymour and Matt Shaughnessy there. The move ended up moving Richard Seymour, perhaps the most important move of the entire season.
The changes appeared to work very well, as evident in Week 1. If you had watched the game, you could tell that the Raiders defense kept Chris Johnson in check for all but a few plays, but of course, the bias of the media will always say the Raiders couldn't keep up with Johnson.
The next few games were full of ups and downs. The team was able to keep Steven Jackson and Tim Hightower in check, but allowed Beanie Wells and Arian Foster/Derrick Ward to run all over them.
Over the next four games, they kept three teams' running backs to 85 yards or less, including the so-called dynamic duo of Thomas Jones and Jamaal Charles. Frank Gore did have almost 150 yards, but again, he only had two to three big runs, and the media will always bash the Raiders run defense, making them out to be the worst ever.
After the bye week, out of seven games, there were...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
