In what may well become dubbed the 'Flag Bowl' the NFL's top two penalised teams meet in Oakland with both needing a win to sustain their hopes of post-season play. As well as sharing the unenviable distinction of being the most penalised team these two also share the fan maddeningly ability to blow hot and cold. There have been times this season when the Raiders have looked like they could be serious contenders in the AFC this year and there have been times when they've looked like they could struggle to beat the Colts. The Lions temperature gauge can seemingly race to extremes within a single game let alone from week to week! After racing out to a 21-0 1st quarter lead against the Vikings last week they ended up requiring a sack/fumble on the last play of the game to seal the victory. With fans of both teams not knowing which of their teams will show up this could be one of those games where it's best to start off with a stiff drink and then just strap yourself in and let the thing unfold good or bad.
Lions fans will be hoping that Kevin Smith has fully recovered and is able to play an active part in the game. For some reason, and I can't believe it's because he's so much better than our other RB's, Smith has been alone of those in Honolulu Blue in being able to consistently gain yards on the ground. The Vikings game saw Titus Young finally become the alternative threat to a blanket covered Megatron and Stafford must continue to exploit the weaker coverage afforded his secondary receiving targets should the Raiders choose to copy the negate CJ tactic employed by other Lions opponents. That said I don't think Stafford should be afraid of lobbing the occasional ball up for Calvin to compete for, such is his advantage over most opposing DB's. I'd especially like to see Johnson thrown an up for grabs catch when we find ourselves in a 3rd & long situation, as we so often do, or have a 3rd & goal from beyond the 5 yard line. The Lions offense has clicked for large scores against their previous two AFC West opponents and will be looking to continue this trend against the Raiders.
Ndamukong Suh returns to action from his 2-game suspension following his Thanksgiving Day stomp and I think we'll be seeing a more focussed and devastating DT than we have to date. When the Raiders were really clicking they were doing so with the RB tandem of Darren McFadden and Michael Bush and lack of rushing yards has been a notable feature of their losses. With McFadden out still through injury the Lions will be keen to continue the stifling of the Raiders slumping run game. If the Lions can restrict the Raiders run attack enough to allow them to focus on pressurizing Carson Palmer into throwing up interceptions. Without being under pressure Palmer has the ability and the receiving talent to torch the Lions so much will depend on those rotating front four collapsing the pocket into Palmer. The Lions have also proved to be quite adept of relieving opposing QB's of the ball and this game could well provide further opportunities to do this.
The Special Teams unit has shown a modicum of improvement in the last couple of games and punter Ben Graham could well be playing himself into a permanent spot on the team. Stefan Logan even managed some return yards against the Vikings but he will need to do more than that if he is to convince me that he is worth his place on the roster. This should be a landmark game for kicker Jason Hanson though as he needs just 3 more points to become only the 6th player to reach 2,00 points, while 8 points in the game will see him rise to 4th place in the all-time points scorers list. When looking at those around him on the list one thing stands out, Hanson has played for only one team.
This is such a tough game to predict because of the unpredictability of the teams involved. Swayed by my love of the Lions I'm going to say that it will be the good Lions that turn up and hand it to the bad Raiders. I'm hoping that Smith plays and as a result the running game opens up deep passing yards for Johnson & Young. I'm expecting a determined and focussed defense to be all over Carson Palmer forcing him into fumbles and throwing interceptions. Unlike against the Vikings I believe that the Lions will be able to maintain their dominance for the whole game and head toward their final AFC West opponent wishing that they played teams from this division every week.
Prediction: LIONS 34 Raiders 20
No comments:
Post a Comment