Raiders Vs. Titans Preview: Make Or Break Time For Oakland

Jeff Spiegel
Jeff Spiegel
4 Min Read
Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

If you read my rewind on Thursday, you know I’m not as down on this Oakland Raiders team as many others. Honestly, I get why the Raiders have lost (and looked terrible) the past two weeks. You’ve got a 10 a.m. PT East Coast game against the New York Jets. You’ve got a road game against one of the best teams in the league in the Kansas City Chiefs. I get it.

But what are we doing here, Raiders? What’s the goal? Are we still thinking playoffs? Because if we are, this Sunday’s game is a must-win. The season is running out of time and when you get a chance to beat a wild card contender at home, there are no excuses left.

Heading into Sunday’s game, the Tennessee Titans are 7-5 having won five out of their last six games — including wins over the Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis Colts. The reason for the turnaround is the revival of quarterback Ryan Tannehill’s career, as the former Dolphin has actually been the sixth-highest-scoring quarterback in the league from a fantasy perspective since Week 7.

So, what needs to happen for the Raiders to defy the odds (they’re currently three-point home underdogs) on Sunday? Here are some things to watch…

Turn Tannehill Over

In the last three wins, Tannehill has thrown for six touchdowns and no interceptions (he has also added two touchdowns on the ground as well). In his one loss this season, the Panthers were able to force him into two interceptions — which made the difference in the game despite the Titans out-gaining the Panthers by a significant margin.

Josh Jacobs, as usual

These keys tend to be repetitive week-to-week, but if the Raiders are going to win, they need a massive day from Josh Jacobs. Again, in looking at the difference between the three games Tannehill has won of late compared to the one loss, the biggest thing that jumps out is the rushing totals. In the three wins, the Titans allowed an average of 105 yards per game. In the loss? 156.

On the season, the Titans are allowing the 10th-fewest rushing yards per game, one spot ahead of the Raiders. Which means…

Derek Carr bounce-back

The haters have made their presence known this week after having to spend the first 11 weeks of the season in hiding — but Derek Carr knows the noise around him is getting louder, and this week is the perfect opportunity to silence the critics. The Titans are allowing the 27th-most passing yards per game (260.1). Combine that with the fact that this game is at home — a place Carr is comfortable — and it all adds up to what needs to be a great performance.

Penalties 

I don’t need to belabor this, but the Raiders will not win this game with more than a handful of penalties. The Titans are legit, and games like this come down to the little things — whether or not the Raiders can keep the referees out of the equation will go a long way to righting this ship.

Prediction: Raiders 27, Titans 25

Every part of me wants to pick a Raider loss here, but I’ve just got a sneaking suspicion that the Raiders are going to show up on Sunday. The defense has quietly been much better of late, and with the offense back in the comfort of their own home, I think we see a week where everything clicks.

Information

Jeff Spiegel was raised in California but currently resides in Portland, Oregon. After graduating from the University of Oregon, he worked in sports before entering journalism full time — first as a Sports Reporter and then as the Associate Editor of a small newspaper. Online, he has been writing about both the Raiders and Dodgers since 2012 — having written for DodgersNation.com and SBNation.com prior to joining both DodgerBlue.com and RaidersNewswire.com. He left full-time journalism in 2012 to become a pastor. Jeff can be found on Twitter at @JeffSpiegel. Favorite Raider This one is an easy one for me: Charles Woodson. When the Raiders drafted him, there was nothing to dislike about the guy — he was exciting and he was freaking good. Unfortunately, of course, he left after eight seasons — but when he returned in 2013 it was one of the better Raider moments of my lifetime. At that point, I didn't care how washed he was (and he wasn't!) — I just liked having him back in the silver and black. Obviously Tim Brown is another guy that was easy to love, but Woodson is the all-timer for me. As far as current, I'm still a believer in Derek Carr and think he's going to figure this all out. Favorite Raider Moment I think I'll go with the two weeks leading up to the 2001 Super Bowl. As a kid, I remember getting the newspaper every morning to read what they were talking about, clipping out the articles to keep for later. It was obviously far more exciting than the Super Bowl itself, but I'll never forget those moments of hope leading up to the Super Bowl. I referenced it above, but second to that was probably the return of Charles Woodson in 2013 — I just loved the guy, and never dreamed he'd actually come back.