There's Still Another Level for Koonce to Reach

As he entered his third season in the league, defensive lineman Malcolm Koonce was facing his most important season in the National Football League. As the season kicked off, Koonce needed to show he could be a productive part of the Raiders' defense, as the team had hoped for when they drafted him.

The only problem for Koonce at the time was that the Raiders' former coaching staff wasn't giving him consistent playing time, which prevented him from showing his progression. His lack of consistent playing time also cost him the chance to gain valuable game experience. 

However, the Raiders made a coaching change roughly halfway through the season. Koonce was undoubtedly one of the primary beneficiaries of the team firing Josh McDaniels. 

When former linebacker Antonio Pierce took over the team, one of the main changes to the defense was how much time Koonce saw on the field. As he began to play more, he gradually progressed into a serviceable part of the defense. 

Weekly, Koonce would get closer to registering sacks until he finally had break-out games in consecutive weeks against the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs, registering five sacks in those two games.