Oakland Raiders: 5 players to watch versus New England Patriots
By John Buhler
While the Oakland Raiders have had their bye, they now face their toughest opponent of the season in the New England Patriots. Oakland will take its 4-5 record on the road for a neutral site game down in Mexico City versus a first-place 7-2 Patriots team.
Though this is technically a home game for the Raiders, it is the Patriots that are favored to come away from Estadio Azteca with a victory. That being said, maybe Oakland poises the best road block for the Patriots the rest of the way? New England feels like a team that will go 12-4, win the AFC East easily and get a first-round bye.
Well, that means the Patriots will need to still drop two more games to reach that lofty 12-4 mark. Plus, the Raiders need a win in Estadio Azteca to get back to .500 at 5-5 and stay alive for another week in the AFC playoff race.
For Oakland to have any shot of winning on Sunday versus New England, these five players are going to have play some of their best ball of the season. Here are the five Raiders you should be paying close attention on Sunday’s big game with the Patriots.
. Running Back. California Golden Bears. Marshawn Lynch. 5. player. 28
Marshawn Lynch should be well rested heading into this game. He has played twice since Week 7’s win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday Night Football. Lynch was ejected midway from that particular game for shoving an official.
He missed the Week 8 disaster up in Orchard Park versus the Buffalo Bills. Lynch would have an excellent game against the Miami Dolphins on Sunday Night Football in Week 9. Oakland was on bye last week. If Lynch isn’t ready to run over the inconsistent Patriots’ front-seven, who is?
There are favorable matchups to attack the Patriots up the middle of their defense. Defensive tackle Alan Branch has fallen back to earth in 2017. Middle linebacker David Harris is a shell of what he once was while with the New York Jets. Though an exciting player, outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy can at times be a defensive liability.
Throwing the ball on the New England secondary might be hard for quarterback Derek Carr. To hopefully open up some better throwing lanes, Lynch will need to approach 100 yards rushing on Sunday afternoon, albeit at high altitude. In a way, he is the litmus test for how this game goes for the Silver and Black.