Raiders: Game breakdown and prediction for Week 15 against the Jacksonville Jaguars

The Oakland Raiders need a win desperately, and this week’s opponent may just be the one for them to break their losing streak against. But is it as easy as it seems?

It’s the last home game in the history of the Oakland Raiders as they take on the 4-9 Jacksonville Jaguars in an effort to pull back to .500.

The Raiders are headed to Las Vegas next year and they’re remaining two games on the schedule are away, so this will be the last time we see these Raiders play in the Black Hole for the foreseeable future.

Will they go out with a bang, or will it be a sour ending to one of the league’s most storied franchises (at least in Oakland)?

Looking at this matchup, the Raiders are 6.5 point favorites and I have a bit of a problem with it.

Yes, the Raiders are the better team. Yes, they’re at home and the narrative of it being the last ever game in that stadium shouldn’t be ignored. Yes, the Jaguars are a four-win football team that hasn’t won since Week 8.

But the last time I checked, the Raiders were on a three-game losing streak and have given up an average of 39 points a game during that stretch. They’ve also lost all three games by a combined score of 116-33. That’s about a 28 point average deficit a week if my dumb guy math serves me well.

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For me, it just seems like too big of a spread not to take Jacksonville to at least cover it. Look, think what you want about Gardner Minshew.

Maybe he’s built to last in this league. Maybe he’s just small flash in the pan who’s already flamed out. But one thing is for sure, when he plays, the Jaguars play with a lot more juice, and their offense gets going.

Last week wasn’t so great for them and now D.J. Chark will be missing this week’s game, but watch out for them to give the Raiders a game here. I don’t think this is a simple win to break the cold streak as it may appear to be on paper.

The Raiders’ secondary (and defense as a whole) has reverted back to its old ways and the pass rush has lost some of its spark after that nice stretch a few games ago.

I think Jacksonville makes this a game and winds up losing by two points. 27-25 is my score here in favor of the Raiders. They haven’t shown in the last three weeks to be able to cover this big of a spread.

The Jaguars are going to be in this thing the entire way.