The Buffalo Bills(3-3) and Oakland Raiders(5-2) are set for this week’s game of the week. The Raiders are coming off a tough loss at home as they were blown out by their AFC West rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders lost 36-13, in a game that saw Derek Carr have his worst game of the season. Carr completed 11 of 24 passes for a season low 45.8 completion percentage and it was the second time this season the Raiders have allowed 30 or more points. The last time it happen was on the road in their week one match-up against the Tennessee Titans.
Meanwhile, the Bills are coming off a home win against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bills offense struggled and if not for the 10 penalties by the Buccaneers, the Bills could be under .500.”We didn’t play as good as we would of liked last week. We got the win but that type of gameplay isn’t gonna cut it against a team like the Raiders.” said Bills head coach Sean McDermott following the team’s Friday morning practice.
The Bills will win if–McDermott’s Bills need the offensive line to step up. The offense ranks last in points, averaging just 13.6 points per game, last in yards per game with 215.4, last in rushing yards with 67.2 and last in passing yards with 148.2 per game. The flip side to that is their defense. The Bills defense is 4th in points allowed, as they are allowing just 18.6 points per game and in pass, rush and total yards allowed they rank 2nd in the league. If the offense can have at least an average game and the defense continues to play the way they have all season, expect them to come out with a road win.
The Raiders will win if–The Raiders need to give Derek Carr some help. This will be the Raiders 4th game without their star running back Marshawn Lynch. Lynch is a huge part of the offense as he was averaging 70.5 yards per game, with Lynch out the Raiders have turned to Carr more which by last week’s results it’s starting to take a toll on his performance. The Raiders need to find a way to get their half back Jalen Richard going. He had just 9 carries in the loss last week and more than 9 carries in only one of the three games he has started in.
This should be an interesting match-up as one team looks to keep their playoff hopes alive, while the other tries to keep their lead in their division to a two game lead. We’ll see how this one plays out on this week’s game of the week.