With a trip face the New England Patriots on deck this weekend, Jon Gruden was reminded of his last trip there as a member of the Las Vegas Raiders (then Oakland) — or, as he put it, “the scene of the crime.” The Tuck Rule game will forever live in infamy for Raider fans, but you can tell in listening to Gruden that it still hurts — and who can blame him?
While Bill Belichick remains, Tom Brady does not — replaced by Cam Newton this season (who has been rather impressive). With this in mind, let’s dive into our three observations and two predictions…
Three Observations
1) On Friday afternoon, speedy wide receiver Henry Ruggs III was ruled out for Sunday’s game — meaning the Raiders will be without both of their first-choice wide receivers (Tyrell Williams being the other) on Sunday. While Ruggs’ production hasn’t been that of a true No. 1 receiver, his presence on the field has made a massive difference in opening things up for everyone else.
I predicted a big week for Nelson Agholor last week, expecting Ruggs might not play — and I’d do the same this Sunday if not for fear of using the same prediction two weeks in a row. Agholor doesn’t have the same speed as Ruggs (few do), but he’s plenty fast nonetheless.
2) Can the Raiders stop Newton? That’s the big question for the week in my opinion — and with Nick Kwiatkoski not practicing all week and ruled out, my hunch is that the answer might be ‘no.’ Nicholas Morrow filled in last week and was brutal — providing no real support in the run game and constantly finding himself a step late in pass coverage as well. There’s no doubt the Patriots saw this on film and will look to exploit it on Sunday. If there’s one bit of good news for the Raiders, it’s that the Patriots boast one of the league’s worst rushing offenses outside of their quarterback.
3) While Darren Waller was the do-everything receiver for the Raiders last week, for the Patriots it was Julian Edelman, who finished with eight catches for 179 yards against the Seattle Seahawks. While he’s not an elite athlete, he’s a suped-up version of Hunter Renfrow in many regards — a guy who just seems to get open all the time. He’ll present a big test for Trayvon Mullen on Sunday, who has quietly kept the opposing team’s best receivers quiet the first two weeks.
Predictions
1) While I still think Agholor breaks out this week, I’ll go with another receiver and predict a big game for Renfrow. Whenever the Raiders need a first down, he’s their secondary option behind Waller — but with Waller getting the focus of the Patriot defense this Sunday, I could see Renfrow finding some seams inside on Sunday.
Prediction: six catches, 85 yards
2) Last week I predicted a 31-24 final score (actual score: 34-24). The only problem? I picked the wrong team to win! Unfortunately, I’m going against the Raiders again this Sunday. It’s a short week, a 10 a.m. PT East Coast game and I just think Newton is going to absolutely kill the Raiders running the ball. If Kwiatkoski were to play, I’d feel way better about things — but that unfortunately will not be happening. Nobody expected the Raiders to be 2-0 this week, so going into Week 4 at 2-1 will still be considered a win.
Prediction: 27-23 Patriots
