D-line’s time: ‘It starts up front’ as Raiders make final playoff push

By Case Keefer (contact)

Friday, Dec. 31, 2021 | 2 a.m.

Nose tackle Johnathan Hankins paved the way to victory for the Raiders two weeks ago in Cleveland when he stuffed a crucial third-down run that wound up as the Browns’ final offensive play from scrimmage.

His neighboring interior linemate, Quinton Jefferson, did the same against Denver last week when he got a sack on a third-down play that similarly proved to be the Broncos’ final offensive play.

“A lot of our identity is up front on our defensive front and what they’ve been able to do this year,” Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia said.

Las Vegas’ front four is the biggest reason why it’s halfway through its objective of winning four games in four weeks to reach the playoffs. The starting four of Hankins, Jefferson, edge rusher Maxx Crosby and edge rusher Yannick Ngakoue has been the Raiders’ most consistent unit, and there’s been minimal drop-off when depth players rotate in for snaps.

They’ll need to extend their season-long success in a 10 a.m. Week 17 kickoff on Sunday at Indianapolis.

“Obviously, we put a lot of strain on those guys,” defensive coordinator Gus Bradley said. “You strain your best players, and those guys up front do a good job of handling it.”

Introductory news conferences often amount to overblown platitudes and empty promises, but Bradley deserves credit for delivering on the one thing he publicly pledged from the moment he took the coordinator job a year ago. He said the Raiders would turn around their defensive fortunes by being better up front, and that’s exactly what they’ve done.

Crosby and Ngakoue, with a combined 15 sacks, have been the stars who receive the most recognition, but the big plays in key situations the last two weeks have put into focus the contributions of the complementary pieces. And it’s been more than just Hankins and Jefferson.

Hankins, a fourth-year Raider, is the linchpin of Las Vegas’ rush defense and there was worry it would disintegrate without him as he missed last week’s game with a back injury. Instead, two newcomers brought in this season by Bradley, Darius Philon and Damion Square, filled in and led the Raiders to their best performance against the run all season.

The Broncos, which have an above-average ground game on the season, gained only 18 yards on 16 carries.

“We have guys running to the ball like crazy,” Crosby said after the victory. “You don’t see D-lines running like us and that’s a credit to (defensive line coach Rod) Marinelli and all the guys in the room. We have a huge emphasis on our conditioning, our stamina and just being able to go longer than the O-line can go.”

Crosby has gone out of his way to praise Marinelli after two straight games. When he got news of his first career Pro Bowl nomination in Cleveland, Crosby thanked Marinelli while fighting back tears and saying, “I want to kill him sometimes, he wants to kill me, but he just wants to see what’s best for me.”

Keeping Marinelli might have been Bradley’s biggest stroke of genius in building his ideal defensive line. The 72-year-old veteran NFL assistant was the Raiders’ interim defensive coordinator at the end of last season, which might have made him look unlikely to be retained with a regime change for the next season.

But almost as soon as Bradley shared his hopes for the defensive line upon taking the job last January, he also announced his excitement to keep Marinelli. The two had spent time in similar circles — both were on different Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ staffs of the early 2000s — but never coached together until this year.

The pairing seems to have gone seamlessly.

“You can never reach his bar,” Bradley said of the expectations Marinelli sets for his players. “He really bases it off effort, which we all believe in. It’s an everyday thing for him.”

Marinelli could have decided to walk away himself with a storied career in tow that saw him win a Lifetime Achievement Award this year, but he spoke last year of still having the “juice” to coach.

He’s proven it by adjusting to a new scheme under Bradley, one that places an undue amount of responsibility on the defensive front. The central tenet of Bradley’s system is generating pressure with the front four alone, something the Raiders have consistently managed.

It has them in position to earn their first playoff berth and/or winning record in five years.

“Those big bodies on the inside, and we’ve done a good job on the edge ... it starts up front for us,” Bisaccia said.

Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or