Oakland Raiders: 5 players to watch vs. Baltimore Ravens

The Oakland Raiders will host the Baltimore Ravens in Week 5. Here are five players for the Raiders you will need to keep your eye on versus Baltimore.

Week 5 features a pivotal game between two 2-2 teams: the Baltimore Ravens and the Oakland Raiders. Both teams got off to hot 2-0 starts, but have since cooled off to fall back to .500 over the last two weeks.

Baltimore’s offense has been bad all year. The Ravens’ two wins have come against weak division rivals in the Cincinnati Bengals and the Cleveland Browns. They were trounced by the Jacksonville Jaguars in London in Week 3. Baltimore would then lose a rare game at home in Week 4 to the arch rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

Oakland looked fantastic in the first two weeks with wins over the Tennessee Titans and the New York Jets. However, the Raiders would be humiliated in Week 3 by the Washington Redskins and come up a drive short on the road against the division rival Denver Broncos.

Obviously, neither team will want to go on a three-game losing streak. With this game being at home, that could be a huge advantage for the Raiders, even without starting quarterback Derek Carr. Here are five players for the Raiders that you’ll need to watch in Week 5 versus the Ravens.

To win this game at home versus a strong Ravens, defense the Raiders will need to get into offensive rhythm early. With the Raiders’ receiving corps being largely mediocre in the first quarter of the season, it might be time to see what tight end Jared Cook can do with a bigger work load.

Cook is not the tight end that will approach 1,000 receiving yards in a season, but he is a big mismatch in the middle of the field. He’s too quick for most linebackers and too physical for many defensive backs to contain. The more comfortable he gets in Todd Downing’s offense, the more productive he will be.

In recent weeks, Oakland has looked more to throw in Cook’s direction. Most of his receptions and targets have been between the hash marks. While there is no reason to force-feed it to him, the Raiders do know that they have a safety valve at the tight end position in the passing game in Cook this year.

New starting quarterback E.J. Manuel will want to have a few playmakers he can lean on early in the game on Sunday. We’ve seen Manuel’s precision as a passer come and go, but if he can connect on a few early targets with Cook, it could really open up the Raiders’ passing attack against a strong Baltimore defense.