The NFL gave the Raiders the toughest schedule in the league in 2014. This after the Raiders finished 4-12 the past two seasons. Now, at 0-2, Oakland’s first tough test of the season comes against a familiar foe in Tom Brady and the New England Patriots.
But can Oakland pull off the upset at the Pats home opener?
For starters, the Patriots have won 11 of their last 12 home openers and 49 of their last 52 home games with the Hall-of-Fame bound quarterback Brady under center. The oddsmakers have the Patriots as a 14-point favorite over Oakland on Sunday.
In short, the Patriots are just dominant at home and with the Raiders coming off their embarrassing 30-14 loss to the Texans last week, some believe that we could see a blowout like the Falcons did to Tampa Bay Thursday night.
While almost everyone has begun to give the Raiders the dreaded “potential 0-16” label, the Raiders can use Sunday’s game in Foxboro to prove a lot of their doubters wrong, turn their season around and (as Raider Nation hopes) possibly show up the Pats and the rest of the league.
While Oakland’s struggles have been well documented, these 0-2 Raiders do have a few great things going for them.
Last week against the Texans, rookie quarterback Derek Carr showed that he can move the offense downfield, something he failed to do against the Jets in the season opener. This time, he, along with the rest of the offense, have to prove they can move downfield without turning the ball over.
Oakland stopped their own momentum with four turnovers last Sunday, killing their own promising drives and giving the Texans great field position to work with.
Despite the 0-2 record, Carr has shown that he is the quarterback of the future for the Raiders, throwing for 263 yards with a touchdown and two picks last week, while also rushing for a team high 58 yards including a 41-yard scamper on a read option in the second quarter.
While Carr may not have the same kinda of day against this Patriots offense this week, he has the chance to become the first rookie quarterback to beat Bill Belichick’s Patriots in New England since 2001.
Belichick’s Patriots are have faced a rookie quarterback on 19 different occasions and are 14-5 against rookie quarterbacks, with all five losses coming on the road. The last few rookie signal-callers to beat them were (in order from most recent) Geno Smith, Russell Wilson, Colt McCoy and (funny enough) Mark Sanchez. However, even Belichick has given praise to the Raiders rookie going into Sunday’s game.
“His athleticism [as well as his] arm strength,” Belichick said. “[His] ability to get the ball down the field and avoid negative plays in the pocket with his athleticism, mobility and some running ability too, are all things that we saw in college that I’d say are showing up this year in the NFL as well.”
“He’s only been sacked a couple of times.”
That leads us to the line play.
Oakland’s offensive line has to keep a majority of the pressure off Carr and create running lanes for Darren McFadden in order for them to have a shot against the Pats. Oakland also cannot afford to have quick three-and-outs against the Pats, giving them momentum.
The Raiders opening drive last week last all of just a minute, 25 seconds, going as far as three yards and ending with a Marquette King punt. The Raiders have to place a focus on ball security and maintaining drives at New England Sunday. They are not consistent offensively to come back after turning the ball over and even if their drives end in a punt, they have to be able to pace the Patriots deep in their end of the field.
Defensively, the Raiders front seven has to finally show up, period.
The Raiders have surrendered a combined 400 yards on the ground in the first two games and has yet to record a single sack. Justin Tuck, Lamarr Woodley have both been non-factors in the first two games and are looking like players past their prime just cruising through the final years of their career.
On a good note, the Raiders youth have looked good. Along with Carr, rookie linebacker Khalil Mack and left guard Gabe Jackson have actually looked good in two games with the Raiders. Mack has been rated the Raiders best defender against the run while Jackson is one of the reasons why Carr hasn’t been sacked so much in the first two games.
With the addition of former Chargers wideout Vincent Brown this week, the rookie Carr might be able to open up the passing game even more this week.
Can the Raiders avoid 0-3? It’s possible. It’s fairly unlikely that it’ll happen, but if the Raiders can pull off the upset, it could be the sharp turning point of the season Oakland needs.
More From FanSided.com
What Roger Goodell should have said
NFL, NFLPA issue joint statement on new drug policy
NFL’s 25 highest-paid players for 2014 season
The Armchair Quarterback’s Guide to the NFL Week 3
NFL Week 3 picks and predictions