The Oakland Raiders will face the Houston Texans today in Oakland's home opener. Last week the Raiders lost to the Jets 19-14 as the offense had a hard time mustering up anything against Rex Ryan's defense. The Houston Texans opened the season with a win against the Washington Redskins with a convincing 17-6 defensive performance. The Raider's players this week felt as if some little things were not executed that led to the defeat and that those things are something that can be corrected for this week. It will be a wait-and-see approach with this team as they continue to learn how to work together as a unit. We will find out if anything did indeed get fixed as they head into this game against another tough defense. The offensive line will have their hands full with J.J. Watt but catch a break with the injury to #1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney. Let's take a look at the matchups and predict a winner.
Raiders Offense vs. Texans Defense
The Raiders were not very good running the ball last week against the Jets which was what they were hoping would be a strength this season to help relieve some pressure off Derek Carr. Maurice Jones-Drew is questionable this week after suffering a hand injury, which will make it even that much tougher to get something going on the ground. The passing game was forced to go with a lot of underneath throws in last week's loss because of the constant pressure on Carr. Expect them to try more throws down the field this week to try and loosen up the defense. The Texans held the Redskins last week to only 6 points and Watt had one sack, two tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, one blocked extra point and one fumble recovery.
Advantage: Texans
Raiders Defense vs. Texans Offense
The Raiders defense was good at times last week but still allowed Geno Smith to do whatever he wanted. If it wasn't for the fumble inside the 5 yard line and the interception, the score would have been more lopsided. Still the Raiders feel that this is a unit that can win some games for them. Gap assignments need to be shored up to be better against the run but most things they saw on film were little things they think are easily corrected. The Texans start Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback who has played pretty well against the Raiders in the past. The receivers that you have to account for are Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins, as they accounted for 182 of the 206 passing yards last week. The Raiders have won the last two meetings between these teams, but that was with Matt Schaub as their QB, who is now on the Raiders sideline.
Advantage: Raiders
Special Teams
The Raiders special teams had one decent return of 38 yards on a kickoff, Janikowski did not attempt a field goal, King had 9 punts that averaged 44.6 yards and T.J. Carrie averaged 7 yards a punt return. The Texans had a similar day last week with Lechler averaging 51 yards/punt on 6 punts and Demaris Johnson averaging 7 yards/punt return and 27 yards on a kickoff return.
Advantage: Raiders
Prediction: Raiders 21, Texans 17
Record this year: 1-0
Raiders Offense vs. Texans Defense
The Raiders were not very good running the ball last week against the Jets which was what they were hoping would be a strength this season to help relieve some pressure off Derek Carr. Maurice Jones-Drew is questionable this week after suffering a hand injury, which will make it even that much tougher to get something going on the ground. The passing game was forced to go with a lot of underneath throws in last week's loss because of the constant pressure on Carr. Expect them to try more throws down the field this week to try and loosen up the defense. The Texans held the Redskins last week to only 6 points and Watt had one sack, two tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, one blocked extra point and one fumble recovery.
Advantage: Texans
Raiders Defense vs. Texans Offense
The Raiders defense was good at times last week but still allowed Geno Smith to do whatever he wanted. If it wasn't for the fumble inside the 5 yard line and the interception, the score would have been more lopsided. Still the Raiders feel that this is a unit that can win some games for them. Gap assignments need to be shored up to be better against the run but most things they saw on film were little things they think are easily corrected. The Texans start Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback who has played pretty well against the Raiders in the past. The receivers that you have to account for are Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins, as they accounted for 182 of the 206 passing yards last week. The Raiders have won the last two meetings between these teams, but that was with Matt Schaub as their QB, who is now on the Raiders sideline.
Advantage: Raiders
Special Teams
The Raiders special teams had one decent return of 38 yards on a kickoff, Janikowski did not attempt a field goal, King had 9 punts that averaged 44.6 yards and T.J. Carrie averaged 7 yards a punt return. The Texans had a similar day last week with Lechler averaging 51 yards/punt on 6 punts and Demaris Johnson averaging 7 yards/punt return and 27 yards on a kickoff return.
Advantage: Raiders
Prediction: Raiders 21, Texans 17
Record this year: 1-0
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