The Raiders are averaging 34 points a game and its no fluke.\u00a0 They are dangerous.\u00a0 They have one of the deepest receiving corps in the league and Derek Carr is spreading the ball around.\u00a0 They have Zay jJnes and Nelson Agholor coming off the bench. \u00a0Rookie Bryan Edwards is a big strong target and they have slot receiver Hunter Renfrow, a player I thought was built for the Patriots. \u00a0Rookie Henry Ruggs has that vertical threat, but he will not be playing this week. \u00a0Carr has his binky in TE Darren Waller, who has been unstoppable so far.\u00a0 \u00a0He has 18 catches in two games, 12 against New Orleans last Monday.\u00a0 They have two backup TE\u2019s in Jason Witten and Foster Moreau.<\/p>\n
The Raiders want to establish the run and with their workhorse Josh Jacobs.\u00a0 He was nicked up Monday night and practiced little this week, but I expect him to be in the starting lineup.\u00a0 Jacobs is also very good in the passing game too with 7 receptions so far.\u00a0\u00a0The Raiders don\u2019t pass much on 1st<\/sup> down, third lowest in the league last year.\u00a0 Against a standard 6 man front, they are averaging 5 yds per carry last season.\u00a0 \u00a0Tent Brown didn\u2019t play against New Orleans last Monday and isn\u2019t expected to play against the Pats.\u00a0 They put starting guard Richie Incognito on IR this week, but the subs rookie Johns Simpson and Sam Young played well.\u00a0 Rookie Kolton Miller starts at LT and is also playing well.<\/p>\n On Defense they have 17-year coordinator Dave Guenther and John Gruden brought him in to install his 4-3 defense.\u00a0 They are weak in the middle and can be run on.\u00a0 Starting MLB Nick Kwiatkoski is out.\u00a0 LB Cory Littleton came over from the Rams but has struggled in Guenthers defense.\u00a0 DE Clelin Ferrell \u00a0a former #4 pick has been a disappointment as a pass rusher and the Raiders have trouble putting any pressure on the QB without blitzing.\u00a0 They have a good young safety in Jonathan Abram, who missed all his rookie season last year.\u00a0 They start rookie Damon Arnette from Ohio St at CB, so they are susceptible to the pass.<\/p>\n The Raiders have an excellent weapon in K Daniel Carlson.\u00a0 He has made all 4 FG attempts and two from 54 yds.<\/p>\n You have to mention the fact the Raiders played on Monday night and have a short week that includes a cross country flight.\u00a0 That takes a toll on a team.\u00a0 Because of this I have the Patriots winning this games 31 \u2013 24.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Raiders are averaging 34 points a game and its no fluke.\u00a0 They are dangerous.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":21380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32465","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-patriots-news"],"yoast_head":"\n