Oakland Raiders: 5 matchups to watch vs. Dallas Cowboys

T.J. Carrie vs. Cole Beasley

Few Raiders should be looking to turn the page on last week’s loss to the Rams more than cornerback T.J. Carrie. He had a difficult matchup size-wise in having to go up against rookie wide receiver Cooper Kupp out of Eastern Washington. No, it did not go well for Carrie, as Kupp took him  back to school on multiple occasions.

While Carrie will get another look at playing in a starting cornerback role for Ken Norton Jr.’s defense, he’ll have another tough matchup in the Cowboys’ premier slot receiver in Cole Beasley. Beasley emerged as an early safety blanket for Dak Prescott in his rookie year. He has a great pair of hands and is shifty as a short-yardage possession receiver.

Will Carrie give up a few catches to Beasley in this game? Yes, but it likely won’t look as bad as it did for him against Kupp last week. However, Prescott and Beasley do seem to have a great rapport already in the Cowboys receiving game. In the dress rehearsal game for both teams, it could end up being Beasley that Prescott leans on to move the chains.

Simply put, Carrie cannot struggle this badly in coverage against the Cowboys. Sadly, it might happen, as Dallas is the far superior offense when compared to Los Angeles. While the gap between the Cowboys and Rams offensively won’t be as vast as it was last year, another bad preseason game for Carrie against Los Angeles could bring more questions into his role in the Raiders defense going forward.