Oakland Raiders: Game breakdown and prediction for Week 4 against Indianapolis Colts

It is going to be a very interesting Week 4 game for the Oakland Raiders and it very well might go a different way than most people are expecting.

The Oakland Raiders travel to Indianapolis this week to take on the 2-1 Colts and Jacoby Brissett after taking a beating in Minnesota.

The Raiders only have three road wins in the past two seasons so traveling is not something they’re particularly good at. But what does this Colts game look like for them? Can they win it? Can they pull off the upset and improve to 2-2?

Here’s what I think.

Oakland is a seven-point underdog in this game, which I think is a lot of points to give a Colts team that’s missing its two best defensive players in Darius Leonard and Malik Hooker. On top of that, they’re 28th in third-down defense with an opponent conversion rate of 51.6%.

On the flip side, the Raiders are seventh in third-down offense success rate (48.7%).

More from Golden Gate Sports

• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• 49ers sign new long snapper amidst a flurry of roster moves
• Oakland Athletics win Game 2 of Wild Card round with late-inning drama
• 49ers: George Kittle and Deebo Samuel cleared to return to practice
• 49ers expected to place DE Dee Ford on injured reserve

The Colts have also proven to be susceptible to the run game. They’re 20th in the league in rushing yards allowed, so this could very well be a bounceback performance by Josh Jacobs and the Raiders rushing attack.

I think we’re going to see a lot of movement of the football and a lot of offensive success on both sides; this is a very good defense for Derek Carr to face in my oh so humble opinion.

What’s going to hurt the Raiders is their inability to generate stops on the defensive side of the ball. We just talked about the Colts not being very good with their third-down defense, but the Raiders are even worse with an opponent conversion rate of 52.8% (30th in the league).

What will also hurt the Raiders is their inability to rush the passer. The Colts have a very good offensive line and the Raiders have only recorded five sacks this year.

On the flip side of that, the Colts are tied for sixth in the league in defensive sacks with eight.

More from Las Vegas Raiders News

• Raiders: Rookie stock report following Week 3 performance
• Raiders: Bryan Edwards out, Henry Ruggs doubtful for Sunday
• Raiders: Damon Arnette re-injures thumb, could be headed to IR
• Raiders fall short in letdown Week 3 loss to the New England Patriots
• Raiders: Game breakdown and prediction for Week 3 at New England Patriots

And with Trent Brown now dealing with two injuries, plus the fact that the Raiders offensive line let up four sacks last week to Minnesota, it’s going to be interesting to see if that’s the deciding factor in the game since everything else seems pretty even between the two teams.

The Colts are at home and they have the better pass rush and offensive line. I think the Raiders come close, but the slightly better team in the Colts finds a way to pull it out.

28-27 Indy.