NFL playoffs: 5 reasons the Oakland Raiders will make it
By Dani Bostick
2. Cooper & Crabtree
Cooper and Crabtree sound like the name of a 1960s folk duo, traveling the country in a VW bus singing songs about peace and harmony. Lucky for the Raiders, Cooper and Crabtree are Amari Cooper and Michael Crabree, a productive wide receiver duo with a combined 10 touchdowns on the season.
Amari Cooper is a rookie drafted in the first round from SEC powerhouse Alabama. His performance last week was good enough to win him NFL Rookie of the Week honors. Against the Titans, Cooper caught seven passes for 115 yards. He also won rookie of the week in Week 7 and Week 9.
Michael Crabtree is in his seventh season, playing most of his career with the San Francisco 49ers, who picked him up in the first round of the 2009 draft. So far this season, Crabtree has had three games with over 100 receiving yards for a total of 715 yards on the season.
Carr, Cooper, and Crabtree are not as formidable a threat as the Steelers Ben (Roethlisberger, quarterback), Bell (Le’Veon, running back), Bryant (Martavis, wide receiver) combination of 2014, but the Raiders shot at the postseason depends heavily on the health and productivity of the three C’s.
Running back Latavius Murray has only had two games for over 100 yards rushing this season, one against the Cleveland Browns and the other against the New York Jets. If he can elevate his game to that level for the remaining games, Oakland will be even more of a threat. Establishing a credible run game, will give Carr more options that stand a chance of confusing the strong defenses on their docket through the end of the season.
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