KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Khalil Mack whipped by his blocker in a flash, hunting down New York Giants quarterback Geno Smith from behind. The Raiders edge rusher leapt up and brought Smith down like a lion on an unsuspecting zebra.
Mack came away with more than prey. He came away with the ball. To call it a forced fumble and recovery is too formal, too polite. Mack straight up stole it.
He grabbed the ball from Smith while brining him down, regaining possession for his team.
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Rookie defensive lineman Treyvon Hester couldn’t believe his eyes.
“I’ve been playing football a long time,” he said on the sideline, as picked up by NFL Films. “I’ve never seen anything like that.”
It ranks high among Mack’s best plays, somewhere near the top. The athleticism made it amazing. The timing made it special.
Giants’ pressure forced Marquette King to eat a punt inside his own 5-yard line. That forced the Raiders defense back on the field unexpectedly for what new defensive play caller John Pagano calls a “sudden change.” Turnovers cause them, and put stoppers in a bind.
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Defenses can compound the problem but, in that spot, Mack was a saving grace.
“How they responded, especially with how Khalil did that, with taking the ball away to take points, it really saved us,” Pagano said. “Not only with them not getting three points, but with the defense really rising up. That’s always been an emphasis anywhere defensively. You have to have a great mindset when you go out there with sudden change.”
The Raiders defense has been excellent in the clutch these past two weeks. The Raiders have three turnovers in victories over the Giants, two off a sudden change, all of them inside their own 30-yard line.
Edge rusher Bruce Irvin had a strip sack recovered by NaVorro Bowman last week, with the Giants driving deep into Raiders territory.
Bowman intercepted Paxton Lynch in the end zone a week prior, saving a touchdown what ended up being a one-score game. That came after Derek Carr got strip sacked at the Raiders’ 29-yard line early in the first quarter. The Broncos drove to the 1, before Bowman tipped a pass and eventually intercepted it lying on his back in the end zone.
“It’s always good to react well and produce something positive from an adverse situation,” Raiders nose tackle Justin Ellis said. “That changes momentum. We pride ourselves on creating big moments like that.”
That’s something the 2016 Raiders did exceptionally well. The Silver and Black had 30 takeaways last year, many of them well timed. Take Mack’s strip sack and fumble recovery that iced victory over Carolina as an example.
Those moments have been rare this season, especially for a team entering this current two-game winning streak with six takeaways and zero picks. Each year is different and coaches hate comparisons, but head coach Jack Del Rio has harped on his team to rekindle 2016’s penchant for performing under pressure.
“Coach Jack has talked a lot about getting back to what we did so well last year,” Ellis said. “We’ve gotten some great, big plays when we needed them the last few weeks. We’re working on that, and making sure that we’re always playing fast.”
That’s a primary goal down the stretch. This Raiders defense is riding high after two solid performances after Pagano took over calling plays, which lackluster competition clouds. Are the Raiders better defensively, or were Lynch and Smith really bad?
Sunday’s game in Kansas City should answer that question. The Chiefs employ Raiders kryptonite in tight end Travis Kelce and speedy receiver Tyreek Hill. The Raiders need to corral those two, and noted Raiders killer Alex Smith, to emerge with a vital victory.
Stopping them is key. So responding well to sudden change while preventing easy touchdowns.
“No freebies,” Ellis said. “We want the other team for work for everything.”