JOHNATHAN HANKINS
Raiders fire defensive coordinator Paul Guenther
The Las Vegas Raiders fired defensive coordinator Paul Guenther after he failed to make any significant improvement for the unit in nearly three full seasons on the job. Defensive line coach Rod Marinelli will take over on an interim basis for the rest of the season. Marinelli has previously served as a head coach in Detroit and defensive coordinator in Chicago and Dallas. He has long ties to Gruden, having served as his defensive line coach for the Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2002 and then rejoining Gruden this season on the Raiders. We got a chance to win all three and see what happens at the end,” defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins said before the announcement.
Derek Carr adds running threat for Raiders this season
In Gruden’s first stint with the team, Rich Gannon had great success as a scrambler, ranking fourth among all quarterbacks from 1999-2001 with 1,058 yards rushing. He also lowered his shoulder and took a big hit fighting for extra yards on another run. “I feel like as a football fan, whenever the quarterback does that kind of stuff, it pumps the whole sideline up,” Carr said. And Carr has made the most of his runs, turning them into nine first downs — including eight in his past four games. He believes that threat will open up more opportunities for big plays throwing off scrambles if defenses start playing him to run.