ALLEN PARK — Oakland’s quarterbacks may not have produced a very good passer rating so far this year, but it’s not because they’ve been beaten up. The battle in the trenches between the Raiders offense and the powerful Detroit Lions defense should make for a key matchup when the teams play on Sunday.

Through 13 games, Oakland is tied with New England for fifth in the NFL in sacks allowed with 22. Meanwhile, Jason Campbell and Carson Palmer have combined for a 74.0 quarterback rating.

“They have done a great job because I think they have only given up 22 sacks and that is pretty good,” said Detroit defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham. “They have played some good people and the scheme of the offense is very good.”

One explanation for the low figure is the Raiders’ run-based offense. When you take into consideration the number of sacks as a percentage of pass attempts, Oakland is a less-flattering 10th in the NFL at 5.30 percent.

Aside from back-to-back weeks of allowing four sacks to Minnesota and Chicago, the pass protection has been pretty consistent. Even in the Vikings game, 6-foot-8, 320-pound left tackle Jared Veldheer – who is a Grand Rapids native that played for Hillsdale College – held Jared Allen without a sack, snapping the defensive end’s 11-game streak with at least one.

Beyond the players, says Gunther Cunningham, you have to look at how the pass protection is designed.

“Well the individuals, you look at any offensive line, it is the same for me,” he said. There are a few great left offensive tackles, but what teams are good at doing, they protect those guys. The quarterbacks get the ball out now.

“There is a lot of chip blocking going on but backs coming out (of the backfield) so when you look at the scheme of things when you are a coordinator, you look at individuals but mainly you focus on how they are doing it, how is he not getting sacked or how is he throwing an interception – meaning the quarterback.

One day before the Oakland Raiders battle it out with the Minnesota Vikings at Mall of America Stadium in Minneapolis and already I’m to get nervous. But that’s what happens before every game that involved the Silver and Black, and this season every game has been an important one to win.

Jared Veldheer
Wikimedia Commons

After the Raiders outstanding performance against the Chargers in San Diego, a victory for a second consecutive week will show they’ve made a big dent in overcoming some of their issues this year, including problems on defense. And stopping the Vikings’ great running back Adrian Peterson, will be key.

Michael Bush(notes) has done an exceptional job filling in for the injured Darren McFadden(notes), running for 157 yards in the game at San Diego, but it would be difficult to compare him against the Minnesota running back, and they may have the edge on this one, even if it’s just slight one.

The Vikings were stomped on by Green Bay Monday night, losing 45-7, in one of their worst losses of the decade. Peterson was held to just 51 yards in that game, and their rookie quarterback, Christian Ponder(notes) completed less than half of his passes and threw an interception. Minnesota’s record fell to a dismal 2-7, and their two wins came against the Carolina Panthers and the Arizona Cardinals, both with losing records.

Comparing the Raiders new quarterback, Carson Palmer(notes), to Ponder, Palmer has the clear edge, really getting his rhythm with the team in the game at Qualcomm Stadium. Oakland’s head coach, Hue Jackson, said one of the reasons he brought Palmer in, despite some who criticized his decision, was his leadership skills. Palmer is already proving to be a leader in his short time with the team, and Jackson said, as with everyone else on the Silver and Black, he has a high expectation of winning every time.

The biggest task might fall to Raiders left tackle Jared Veldheer(notes) who will try to slow down one of the best defensive end’s in football, Jared Allen(notes). Jackson remarked, “He’s as good as there is in football,” Raiders coach Hue Jackson said. “The guy has 13 1/2 sacks, and it’s not by accident. He doesn’t make any magical things happen, he just goes and plays extremely hard. What we have to do is get him blocked.”

That’s a lot of pressure on Veldheer, but he feels he’s up for the task and wants to do much of the job alone. Jackson said he’ll get him some extra help if he feels he needs it. This game may be closer than we might expect, but the Raiders are favored, and this time I don’t think they’ll disappoint. With the AFC West in a tight race this season, especially after the win by the Denver Broncos on Thursday, each and every game is a must win.

Just win baby!

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan from the time she could walk. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett . Follow her at www.facebook.com/KCDermodyWriter or on Twitter @kcdermody.

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A meeting with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots showed the Oakland Raiders how far they still need to go to be mentioned among the AFC’s elite teams.

A week after bullying the New York Jets in an emotional victory in the home opener, the Raiders were dealt a dose of reality in a 31-19 loss to the Patriots that exposed plenty of issues that still need to be addressed if Oakland wants to end a run of eight straight non-winning seasons.

“We’re going to fix it, and we have just the men to do it,” coach Hue Jackson said Monday. “What we got to do is go out and do it, and do it consistently, play in and play out. There’s flashes of brilliance on this football team, whether it be offense or defense or special teams. And then all of sudden, sometimes things don’t go the way we want them to. What we got to do is become a very consistent football team, and I think we can, and I think we will.”

The Raiders (2-2) have alternated wins and losses this season, going from a season-opening win in Denver to a second-half collapse in Buffalo to the impressive victory over the Jets to the latest loss to the Patriots.

Now Oakland is in for another tough test this week with a trip to Houston to play a 3-1 Texans team fresh off a victory over defending AFC champion Pittsburgh.

“We just finished the first quarter of the season,” cornerback Stanford Routt said. “We’ve got 12 more. All the challenges from here on out, they’re just going to get bigger and they’re going to get more important.”

But Jackson’s bold expectations haven’t changed since the day he was hired last January to replace Tom Cable, even though some issues that he has vowed to solve are still problems — most notably penalties.

“We’re going to win the AFC West,” he said. “We’re going to do everything we can to get in the playoffs and go challenge for a Super Bowl. I am not backing down from that.”

The Raiders have struggled defensively and are currently tied for second-worst in the league with 28.3 points allowed per game. The offense has been much better but had its own problems against the Patriots.

The Raiders gained a season-high 504 yards of offense but were held to a season-low 19 points because they couldn’t finish off enough drives with touchdowns and committed a pair of costly turnovers that ultimately doomed them.

Oakland came into the game as the top team in football on drives that reached at least the opponent’s 30-yard line, scoring nine touchdowns and two field goals on 11 drives. They weren’t nearly as efficient facing the Patriots, which proved costly against such a dynamic offense.

An illegal block penalty on left tackle Jared Veldheer stalled the opening drive after it reached the New England 13, forcing the Raiders to settle for a field goal.

The biggest blunder came late in the first half after the Raiders had driven to the New England 6 trailing 14-10. On second down, Campbell stepped up in the pocket and threw a ball straight to safety Patrick Chung with no receiver in the area in what he could only describe as a “boneheaded” play.

The Raiders trailed 24-10 the next time they had the ball and again drove deep into New England territory. On a second-and-10 from the 15, Campbell threw a pass to Jacoby Ford near the goal line. Originally, cornerback Kyle Arrington was called for pass interference. As the ball was being spotted at around the 2, the officials changed their call, saying it was incidental contact and no penalty. That drive also ended in a field goal when Jackson decided to kick on fourth-and-3 from the 8.

“It definitely was a big moment, a big change in the game because it could have been a potential touchdown instead of just three points,” Ford said. “You’d be looking at a totally different game. But it just kind of swings that way sometimes. Nothing we can do about it.”

Oakland got down to the 30 on the next drive before Campbell was intercepted by defensive lineman Vince Wilfork and the game was essentially over at that point.

“We know we can be a legit and an elite offense in this league,” Campbell said. “We’ve done it. Not just one week here and there. We’ve done it week in and week out. … We just weren’t able to finish a couple drives in the red zone, as in the interception, but we definitely feel like we have the ability and we have what it takes to get to the next level.”

The old offensive line refrain “bend at the knees, not at the waist” has never been more important to Jared Veldheer than it will be Monday night.

The Raiders’ second-year left tackle will be the blind-side protection for quarterback Jason Campbell against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High and face one of the NFL’s best pass rushers in right defensive end Elvis Dumervil.

Veldheer is one of the NFL’s tallest tackles at 6-foot-8. Dumervil is the shortest defensive end at 5-11. The 9-inch disparity presents some leverage issues for the 320-pound Veldheer.

“You’ve got to take your 6-8 and make yourself 6-foot,” Raiders coach Hue Jackson said of Veldheer’s challenge. “Our guy has length and girth, and obviously (Dumervil) is not as tall but a very, very good, accomplished player.”

Dumervil led the NFL in 2009 with 17 sacks, playing as an outside linebacker in a 3-4 defense where he said he rushed about 60 percent of the time.

He missed last season with a torn pectoral muscle. Back as an end in the 4-3, Dumervil will have minimal coverage responsibilities and be rushing on all passing downs.

With long arms, a quick first step and a low center of gravity, the 255-pound Dumervil makes for a tough target. With rookie linebacker Von Miller coming from the opposite side, Veldheer won’t always have help from double teams or chip blocks.

Getting down to Dumervil’s level will require Veldheer bending his knees, because bending at the waist leaves

a lineman off-balance and with a tendency to lunge.

“I obviously have to work at playing lower than 6-8 this week,” Veldheer said. “It’s just one of the things you need to work on in the week of practice and preparation.”

As challenging as Dumervil is, Veldheer is miles ahead of where he was a year ago in comfort level, when the Raiders made the third-round draft pick from NCAA Division II Hillsdale their starting center in the days leading up to the season opener in Tennessee.

It lasted exactly one game before Samson Satele took over. Veldheer went to the bench but was summoned to start Week 7 at Mile High, a 59-14 Raiders win. He kept the job the rest of the year and has been a mainstay at tackle through training camp.

“Having a year of experience is huge, especially just being at tackle,” Veldheer said. “Being able to go through camp and not worry about going inside and back outside has done a lot. I’ve been able to work on specific things that I feel I needed to improve on from last year.”

It’s looking as if rookie Stefen Wisniewski, anointed the starting center on draft day when he was the only one on the roster, will instead be the Raiders’ starting left guard.

While coach Hue Jackson wouldn’t come out and say it Monday in a conference call with local media, Wisniewski probably will be the replacement for free-agent departure Robert Gallery when Oakland opens the regular season Sept. 12 against the Denver Broncos.

“I wouldn’t say he’s all the way entrenched there, but I think he’s done some very good things,” Jackson said. “I think as we move closer to our opener, as we move closer to our game this week, we’ll have a pretty good idea where we’re going to play him at.”

The Raiders (0-3) close out the exhibition season Friday night in Seattle, with most starters likely playing very little if at all.

With the offensive line a bright spot in a 40-20 loss to New Orleans on Sunday night, it appears Wisniewski’s destiny is to begin his career at the same position his uncle (and position coach) Steve Wisniewski did as an eight-time Pro Bowler for the Raiders.

“It looks like that,” Stefen Wisniewski, a second-round draft pick out of Penn State, said Sunday night. “Certainly, things could change at any point, but it seems like that might be my permanent spot.”

For the past several practices, Wisniewski, who played center when camp opened, has played at left guard while incumbent Samson Satele, who was re-signed

Aug. 2, played center.

Jared Veldheer has taken virtually every snap as the first team left tackle, while the right side has been manned by Cooper Carlisle at guard and Khalif Barnes at tackle. Jackson wouldn’t commit to those five being the Week 1 starters, but it appears to be the most likely scenario.

“I’m not going to tell you I’m set, but I’m definitely moving in that direction,” Jackson said.

Besides keeping quarterback Jason Campbell upright, the Raiders ran well against New Orleans, including 32 yards on five carries by Michael Bush against the Saints’ first-team defense.