Oakland Raiders: Third Quarter schedule breakdown and predictions

@Arizona Cardinals

By week eleven, Cardinals quarterback of the future, Josh Rosen, will likely be the quarterback of the present.

The Cardinals went 8-8 in 2017 – HC Bruce Arians‘ final year with the team. Although they had a strong defense – ranked sixth in the league – their offense was in the bottom quarter of the league (ranked twenty-second overall).

Though Arizona lost some key pieces of that defense, like Tyrann Mathieu, they should field a pretty strong unit. The Raiders will need to find a way to solve a defensive unit that ranked sixth against the run. If they can put together a strong game on the ground, it will open things up for Carr and company to find room against a pass defense that was in the middle of the pack last year.

Oakland is going to need to take full advantage of any and all opportunities they have to score on Arizona’s defense, and then turn it over to their defense to hold onto it.

With what looks like an upgraded secondary and what should be an upgraded defensive front, the Raiders should be able to control the game and stifle Arizona’s offense. Of course, that’s going to start with shutting down David Johnson who is back from injury and is looking to put up 1,000 yards on the ground, and 1,000 yards receiving.

If they can take away Johnson, and force either Sam Bradford or Rosen – probably Rosen by that point – to win the game for Arizona, Oakland should be in pretty good shape. The Cardinals had the league’s twenty-fifth scoring offense a year ago, and might not be all that vastly improved in that category this season.

Raiders: 24 Cardinals: 13