Raiders: Game breakdown and prediction for Week 14 against Tennessee Titans

It’s gut-check time for the Oakland Raiders after two-straight thrashings and a playoff spot still up for grabs in the AFC postseason hunt.

The Oakland Raiders have been embarrassed in two-straight weeks as they now head back home to take on the red-hot 7-5 Tennessee Titans. The Titans have heated up ever since they made the move to Ryan Tannehill at quarterback.

My thoughts on Tannehill are that he’s good enough to win you games and stay a starter in this league (for the moment), but not quite what you need to take your team over the top.

What the Titans have done really well in these past few weeks is run the ball with Derrick Henry down everybody’s throat. Henry has nearly 500 rushing yards and five touchdowns in his last three games, which could make him the MVP of the month of November in certain arguments.

We know what the Raiders are on defense. They don’t stop much, but their pass rush is starting to get its legs under it.

But my feelings on this game are that the Raiders have been pitiful these last two weeks and they are good enough of a team to be able to bounce back here against a slower-paced team that could keep the score low-enough for the Raiders to sneak up and pull off a victory.

Stats say the Titans should win this game.

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They’re running the ball terrifically and they actually have a low-key formidable defense. But here’s the catch, they’re very thin in the secondary right now with Adoree’ Jackson and LeShaun Sims ruled out for this game as well as Malcolm Butler already being on IR.

There might be an opportunity here for Derek Carr to rebound and find the gaping holes in the Titans secondary.

The Raiders as a team have a lot to make up for after two games of scoring a total of 12 points. This could be the game they come back storming and unleash hell.

In this matchup with Tennessee, they have the better coach, quarterback, and offensive line play. And Tennessee has just the right amount of guys out (and at the right positions) for the Raiders to take full advantage of this opportunity if Carr can find the holes in the secondary.

What they need to do is play smash-mouth football and beat the Titans at their own game by keeping their offense off the field. It’s going to have to be an ugly, physical game, but if the Raiders can execute that game plan, they’ll win.

I have the Raiders taking this game 24-20 and moving back to above .500.