Las Vegas Raiders at Atlanta Falcons: 3 things to watch in Week 12

After a tough loss to their divisional rival, the Las Vegas Raiders travel to Atlanta to take on the 3-7 Falcons, who have struggled in recent weeks.

Say what you will about the Atlanta Falcons record, the bottom line is they have a lot of talent on the ball’s offensive side, and that is cause for concern for the Las Vegas Raiders. Matt Ryan is a very underrated quarterback, and the weapons he has are some of the best in the league right now.

Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley are one of the best duos at wide receiver in the league, and then add in Todd Gurley III, who can be explosive, Week 12 won’t be a walk in the park.

The Raiders’ defense has struggled in recent weeks, and has been the Achilles heel all season long. Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock focused on defense in free agency, bringing in one of the best linebackers in Cory Littleton, and then drafted Damon Arnette from Ohio State.

Johnathon Abram played at the level we thought he could when he was drafted last season, along with Trayvon Mullen playing well, this team has the potential to be great.

Paul Guenther has been blamed for most of the losses, as the defense hasn’t played disciplined football. A perfect example is Travis Kelce being wide open in the endzone for the go-ahead touchdown against the Chiefs on Sunday night.

Many Raiders fans were quick to ask the obvious question, “what happened here?” Although the defensive unit has room for improvement, the offense has played great, and improved a ton from last season. Derek Carr is playing at an MVP level, not turning the ball over, improving his deep ball accuracy, and putting his team in positions to win games. Last week, the game’s first 4 drives ended with a 14-14 score, and the Raiders led at half time up until the last minutes of the game.

Here are three things to watch against the Atlanta Falcons this week.