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Williamson: Mack making case to be Defensive Player of the Year

Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images Sport / Getty

Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns, and spent the last 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of "The Football Today Podcast."

The Raiders are 10-2 and have won nine of their last 10 games. They are a game ahead of Kansas City in the best division in football and currently have the same record as New England, which sets them up for a bye during the first weekend of playoff games.

Led on offense by Derek Carr, whose name is being thrown around for MVP consideration, Oakland has scored more points than any team in the AFC, and only the Falcons and Saints have put more points on the board this year. This offense is loaded with young star power, and can attack opposing defenses in so many ways.

When you have a great offense, the ideal situation on defense is to be very strong against the pass. Most opponents will have to throw more than they probably want to in order to keep up with Carr and Co., giving the defense an opportunity to take advantage.

Enter Khalil Mack.

Mack started the season in somewhat nondescript fashion, especially considering the high bar he set for himself coming off an All-Pro 2015. Well, he has come on like a house on fire since then.

Mack is a defensive player who makes it very difficult to locate a weakness in his game. Exceptional against the run both toward or away from him, he's developing into a decent coverage player in the short zones as well. But where he shines, obviously, is rushing the passer. He has power, quickness, a wide array of nasty pass-rush moves, a great motor, and the desire to get to the quarterback. He uses his hands incredibly well.

This year, Mack’s sack production has come in very key times. He's doing his best work late in games, which shows that he's learning to set up his opponent very effectively as the game goes on. He's developed from a mental aspect in learning his opponent, and has always had what you look for in terms of physical gifts. Some may argue, but Mack is currently the NFL’s best edge-rusher and clearly one of the league’s best defensive players.

Unfortunately, Luke Kuechly and J.J. Watt are out of the equation for Defensive Player of the Year honors. But with the way Mack is playing, he is very much in the running for this prestigious award, along with Von Miller of the Broncos and Aaron Donald of the Rams (who probably isn’t helped by the team he plays for).

If he keeps up what he's doing, Mack could not only win this award, but propel his team to even greater things. But is he enough of an impact player to make up for those around him against the run? Thursday Night should be a very good indicator, one way or another.

Oakland’s run defense, as we saw in glowing fashion against Buffalo, is worrisome. If they happen to run into an opponent in the postseason (like Dallas in the Super Bowl) that can control the ball on the ground, we might just see a lot of camera shots of Carr standing on the sidelines holding his helmet. Last week, the Bills ran the ball 30 times for 212 yards. The interior of this defense is particularly troubling.

On Thursday Night, it will be interesting to see if Kansas City can use similar tactics to keep Oakland’s offense off the field and control the flow of the game. If this game is a shootout, that doesn’t play to the Chiefs’ advantage. In these teams' first meeting, Kansas City totally controlled the action and held the Raiders to just 10 points, as Spencer Ware gouged the Oakland defense for 131 yards on the ground. The reality is that the Chiefs, who generally make far fewer mistakes per game, are not a very good matchup for the Raiders, especially when Kansas City has the ball.

Only the lowly Browns and 49ers allow more yards per game than Oakland. Ten teams allow more points per game, however.

Some of the negative numbers are a bit skewed, since Oakland’s defense struggled much more in the early part of the season. This was a group with many new faces that took some time to gel. Plus, the Raiders eventually upgraded at safety and inside linebacker by inserting first-round pick Karl Joseph and Perry Riley into those respective roles, neither of whom were starters to begin the campaign.

In the first two weeks of the season, without Joseph and Riley in the starting lineup, the Raiders were abused by New Orleans and Atlanta - the two highest-scoring offenses in the league through Week 13 - to the tune of 69 total points allowed. That problem still exists, as Oakland has allowed 56 points over its past two games, although both were victories.

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