Raiders’ explosive offense hopes to pick up struggling defense

Raiders’ explosive offense hopes to pick up struggling defense

Even if the receiver can’t bring the ball down, there is always a chance at a pass interference call.

Funny thing, Raiders quarterback Derek Carr — who takes the league’s No. 1 offense into Nissan Stadium on Sunday — once did a study on this.

“You find out that there’s a lot of pass interference calls,” he said, smiling.

[...] the rest of its defensive players.

The Raiders rank last in the league in yards per game, yards per play (8!), passing yards per game and first downs allowed and yet are 1-1, thanks to their offense.

“I don’t think we started as fast as we wanted to these first couple of games,” offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said.

Carr has been sharp, completing 70 percent of his passes for 618 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.

Guys are taking time before they get here to spend their time in the playbook and game plan and those things, and that’s good to see.

The (Falcons last week) played a soft zone most of the day and stayed on top of the deep opportunities.

Spotlight on: S Karl Joseph — The first-round pick makes his defensive debut, after having played only on special teams the first two games.

Coach Jack Del Rio said he’s “excited” to see Joseph play, as are fans.

Joseph was coming off knee surgery when the Raiders drafted him, and the safety has also been working on his eye skills, as far as looking at the right things pre-snap and making adjustments after.

Raiders — Tackles Austin Howard (ankle) and Matt McCants (knee) are out.

RT Menelik Watson (groin), C Rodney Hudson (knee), G Gabe Jackson (knee), CB David Amerson (concussion), DL Jihad Ward (hip) and RB Taiwan Jones (concussion) are listed as questionable but practiced Friday and are expected to play.

Titans — TE Delanie Walker (hamstring), WR Kendall Wright (hamstring) and LB Derrick Morgan (hamstring) are questionable.