Reasons the Las Vegas Raiders will beat the Lions in Week 8
By Brad Weiss
Going into their matchup against the Chicago Bears in Week 7, things were looking up for the Las Vegas Raiders. They had come away with close victories against the Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots, moving their record to .500 and with a beatable team on the horizon in Chicago, getting over .500 for the first time since the 2021 season was a real possibility.
Unfortunately, head coach Josh McDaniels did what he always does, and the Raiders appeared unprepared, being dominated by a Chicago Bears team starting a rookie DII quarterback. The Bears ran all over the Raiders defense, Brian Hoyer proved to be a mistake at quarterback, and in the end, the Raiders suffered their worst loss of the season, 30-12 on the road.
Now, with the season on the brink, the Raiders will take on their third NFC North team in four games, and this week's opponent, the Detroit Lions, are the best of the bunch. Detroit has gotten out to a 5-2 record this season, but were beaten badly their last time out, losing to Baltimore by a score of 38-6.
Las Vegas has enough talent on their roster to hang with the Lions on Monday night, but do they have the right game plan going in? McDaniels has been out-coached on nearly a weekly basis since taking over in 2022, and while the front office seems to be behind him, you have to think he is coaching for his life right now.
Here, we look at the reasons why the Raiders could pull off a major upset against the Lions.