Las Vegas Raiders game breakdown and prediction for Week 7 vs. Buccaneers
By Sean Basile
Game Preview
Going by how this team has operated of late, they love to win one, lose one; play up, then play down. If history repeats itself, this should be a “play down” type of week for various reasons, especially considering they are playing a Tampa Bay Bucs team feeling pretty good about themselves coming off of a domination of Aaron Rodgers and the Packers.
When it comes to the Raiders versus the Bucs historically, the Raiders are 7-3 all-time and 5-1 at home all-time regardless of LA, Oakland, or Las Vegas. This is a Raiders team that historically has the odds in their favor, especially coming off a bye where they’re well-rested.
Here’s my problem. This is not your run-of-the-mill Buccaneers team. This is a Tom Brady-led powerhouse that is getting into a groove like no other team is getting into in football right now. They struggled early and made some dumb mistakes mentally. But aside from the occasional Tom Terrific turnover, which worries me as fierce Tom Brady proponent, this is a Bucs team that is healthy and gearing up to go on a run.
TB12 is 4-1 against the Raiders in the regular season throughout the course of his career, and had this game remained on the SNF docket, I would’ve jumped on here like a nerd to tell you Tom is 17-10 in regular season SNF games.
The Raiders have a serious problem on their hands other than a stout Bucs team to handle on both sides of the ball. What is going to become of this Raiders O-line now that Trent Brown is out on the COVID list and the rest of the starting five up front are being held out currently?
Do the Raiders go forward in this game with a completely makeshift offensive line? Because if they do, that’s bad news for a team that needs to be able to play through their O-line and pound the run.
Josh Jacobs‘ run game is in peril. Derek Carr is in peril due to the Bucs awesome pass rush that just tore through the Packers- one of the best pass-blocking lines in football. And this could very well turn into a Bucs blowout of the Raiders if things go sideways, quick.
I had a lot of difficulty landing on a prediction I felt 100% good about for this Raiders game.
On one hand, I feel the Bucs have a major leg up on the Raiders right now with the groove their defense is in and the fact that LV’s O-line is in major question.
On the other hand, I can never get a read on this Raiders team. This is my first article for Just Blog Baby, but those of you who know me from Golden Gate Sports know very well the Raiders are a team that torture me in my weekly predictions regularly. I’m 1-4 this year in both picking Raider games straight-up and picking Raider spreads, so take whatever I say here with a serious grain of salt.