The Las Vegas Raiders are currently in a state they know all too well. Luckily for them, the team they’re playing this week is familiar with that as well. Both the Cincinnati Bengals and Raiders started the season 5-2, and since then, each team has fallen off hard, with two tough losses. The story of the season for each team has been synonymous. Whoever wins today will be able to get out of their funk. Here are three bold predictions for this week.
Derek Carr Will Throw for Over 350 Yards
If there’s a defense that could have possibly been worse than the Raiders’ over the past couple of weeks, it’s the Bengals’.
Cincinnati fell victim to the infamous “Mike White Game” in Week 9, giving up 34 points to the Jets. They followed up that performance with an inspiring game against the Browns in which they gave up 41, although six of those were off of a Joe Burrow interception.
Neither of those teams has had a talented offense by any stretch of the imagination this year. It would also be fair to say that the Raiders have a much better offense than both of those teams, even with their struggles last week. The offense has been at its best throughout the season when Derek Carr can sling the ball, and he will do that on Sunday.
CJ Uzomah Will Have 100 Receiving Yards
Three constant things in life are death, taxes, and the Raiders leaving the opposing team’s tight end wide open 20 yards down the field. Seriously, does anybody remember a year in which this team was able to defend this position?
No matter who seems to be in charge of this defense, the Raiders seem to be allergic to tight ends. CJ Uzomah is not a star-caliber tight end like the one they faced last week, but he’s more than capable of finding open space, especially against a struggling Raiders’ defense. That struggling defense will already be tasked with defending Ja’Marr Chase, Joe Mixon, and Tyler Boyd, so Uzomah might find some chances to get open.
Josh Jacobs Will Top 100 Rushing Yards
A common theme with the Raiders’ offense in recent weeks has been to try and get the running game going early. They tried to get Josh Jacobs some touches right off the bat last week, but since the game got out of hand quickly, that became impossible.
The Bengals’ run defense isn’t bad, but it has been struggling recently. They give up an average of 100 yards on the ground per game, and in their last game against the Browns, they gave up a whopping 153.
The Raiders will have some work to do to get this done, and it’s definitely not an easy task. However, Cincinnati’s unit has been struggling recently, so this would be a good chance for Josh Jacobs to get back on track.
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*Top Photo: Chris Unger/Getty Images