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Raiders defense steps up big time and other bold predictions

JDR
JDR

The Oakland Raiders will play on Thursday Night Football so we are doing the Bold Predictions early. And of course, the first thing we always do is take a look at last week’s predictions to see how I did. Heading into last week, I had 11 correct predictions and a whopping 22 incorrect predictions. Hopefully I was able to improve my record a bit this week:


AROUND COVER32
Winners and Losers: An up-and-down week of NFL action
QB Rankings:: Familiar faces on top
10 Things We Learned:: The Cowboys and Raiders are legitimately really, really good
Raiders News: Five things we saw from Oakland in their week 13 win.
Raiders News: Tell the Truth Tuesday: Oakland is competing for the Super Bowl.
Raiders News: D. Carr and L. Murray treat their offensive line to a special gift.


1 – Oakland runs for 125 or more yards

And right away, we have a winner. The Raiders had 139 yards on the ground as they broke out of their run game slump against the Buffalo Bills. It’s not like the Bills have a great run defense, but the Raiders topped the season average for Buffalo by more than 20 yards. It was an impressive performance for the Raiders and for Latavius Murray in particular, who really showed up big for the Silver and Black.

2 – Oakland sacks Tyrod Taylor 4 times

Two for two! The Raiders managed exactly four sacks as Khalil Mack, Bruce Irvin, Denico Autry and James Cowser all took down Tyrod Taylor. It was a dominant performance for the defensive line, the kind we’ve been waiting for all season. It seems like the more the year wears on, the better Bruce Irvin and Khalil Mack are playing. That’s now seven games in a row with a sack for Mack and three in a row for Irvin.

3 – Oakland finally gets that comfortable win: Two scores

The trifecta!! For a while, it looked like IF the Raiders were going to pull off the win, it wouldn’t be by much. But after being dominated for more than half of the game, Oakland went nuts, scoring 29 unanswered points and walking away with a 14 point victory. That was their biggest win of the year in terms of point differential and it happened so quickly, you might have missed if if you blinked.

Not too bad, with three correct predictions, I improved my season record to 14 correct predictions and 22 incorrect predictions. Let’s throw out three more and see how I do!


THIS WEEK’S PREDICTIONS


1 – Khalil Mack plays a role in a turnover

For two consecutive weeks, Khalil Mack has had a strip sack and fumble recovery to end the game. While I’m not going to get crazy and predict a strip sack, I will predict that Mack will cause another turnover this week. Whether it’s a strip sack, a pick or a pass that was impacted by Mack hitting Alex Smith or tipping the ball and results in an interception, Mack is going to play a major role once again and once again help the defense get a turnover.

2 – Raiders defense holds Kansas City to under 20 points

The Chiefs are averaging 23.4 points per game and Oakland defense gives up 24.9 points on average per game. But this week, in the most important game of the year for the Silver and Black, the defense is going to step up their game when it matters the most. Despite the fact that Oakland has only held one team to under 20 points all year (Tennessee), they will better their own season average and do their part to help win the AFC West.

3 – Oakland turns the ball over one or fewer times

This season, Kansas City is averaging more than two takeaways per game. That’s a major reason why they are such a dangerous team. With 25 takeaways this season, they sit atop the NFL. If the Raiders want to get a win, one of the things they will have to do is be very protective of the ball. But that’s not something that will come as a surprise and they will get the job done, turning the ball over once at the most.

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