Oakland Raiders: A Few Keys To Victory Over The Jacksonville Jaguars

Win The Turnover Battle

Through the first five games of the year, the Raiders were doing a terrific job of winning the turnover battles. Through those five games, the Raiders had 10 team takeaways against just three giveaways. Their plus seven turnover margin was the best it’s been in quite some time.

Against Kansas City, Derek Carr threw his third interception of the year and then added a lost fumble later on in the game. After being turnover-free the first two games of the year, Oakland has turned the ball over five times in the last four games.

Although their five turnovers still put them among the best in the league, they’ve been a little more careless with the ball the last couple of games.

Obviously, if you’re a football fan, you know the importance of ball security. You also know the importance of winning the turnover battle. Very few teams have more giveaways than takeaways and get very far or do anything special.

Against Jacksonville, they’re going to be squaring off with a team who isn’t shy about turning the ball over. Bortles has seven picks on the season and as a team, have committed nine turnovers in all. On the flip side, they’ve only amassed five takeaways, giving them a net turnover differential of negative four.

Next: The Good, Bad, & Ugly vs. Kansas City

The Raiders will need to play hard and be aggressive. They’ll need to force Bortles and company into some mistakes – and then they’ll need to capitalize on them.

If the Raiders can reverse their recent trend of turning the ball over and instead, force Jacksonville to give it up, they’ll be in a much better position to win a game and get themselves back on track.