Photo Courtesy: All-Pro Reels
By DaVince “Dino” Wright
Game Info
New York Jets vs Las Vegas Raiders
Sunday – November 12 – 7:20 p.m.
TV: NBC
Allegiant Stadium – Las Vegas, NV
Records Before the Game
New York Jets (4-4, 2-1 Away)
Las Vegas Raiders (4-5, 3-1 Home)
This Sunday Night Football game will have two teams looking for new direction. The Jets are going to lock in and stay with second year signal caller Zach Wilson while the Raiders have benched Jimmy Garoppolo for backup quarterback Aidan O’Connell. Last week O’Connell won his first game as a starter while interim head coach and former New York Giant LB Antonio Pierce won his first game. This game will be somewhat hard to watch because you really don’t know what each team is putting on the field for this one. Let’s take a look at this week’s Sunday Night matchup in “Sin City”.
Why you should watch this game
The Raiders have always spent big money on proven veterans during free agency and trades and it seems like it never pans out on the field. Can interim coach Antonio Pierce change the direction of the Raiders this season? Can Zach Wilson bounce back from the loss and get a win on the road in Vegas? We shall see!
Why you shouldn’t watch this game
It’s time to pull out all of your winter equipment to weatherize the house. It’s going to be a cold winter! Besides you don’t want to be paying for frozen pipes…
New York Jets
The Jets maybe on the outside looking in right now but this team has a chance of making some waves in the AFC. The Jets are in 3rd place at 4-4 in the AFC East right behind the Buffalo Bills. Getting a win could get them tied for second place. This week they have their chance of being 2-1 on the road. The only thing the Jets could do is to continue to play solid on the defensive side of the ball. Creating turnovers will be at the top of the list. The match up between Davante Adams and Sauce Gardner will be a good one. In regards to offense with Zach Wilson at QB expect more pedestrian numbers like 200 yards of passing. This is so that stud RB Breece Hall can get his touches and control the clock. When it’s a passing down, you can count on Wilson targeting TE Tyler Conklin. You might get lucky and witness a Wilson-to-Wilson TD! WR Garrett Wilson has the potential to be a big time receiver and needs to more targets to get there. WR Allen Lazard is listed as questionable for this one. My x-factor in this is is QB Zach Wilson. If he manages the game correctly then fans will be chanting J-E-T-S with a victory celebration!
Las Vegas Raiders
The Raiders have had a reputation of being a tough, gritty and physical team in years past. This is the modern era and the product on the field hasn’t been reflecting that image. The offense has always been a problem on that side of the ball. The o-line needs to be more physical in the run game and create holes for their backs. Running back Josh Jacobs will need to get the ball early and often. Over the past 5 years, the Raider offense has fallen in love with throwing the ball. They have talented runners in the backfield basically blocking for three of the four downs they have on offense. The x-factor will be Josh Jacobs running the ball because the Jets defense gives up over 100 yards to opposing runners. Again as mentioned previously the match up between Adams and Gardner will be worth watching. This could open up some plays for QB Aidan O’Connell to get the ball to WR Jakobi Meyers. I also think the Max Crosby could create mayhem in the Jets backfield with another huge game.
Prediction
ESPN has the Jets with a 55.6% chance of winning on the road. The Raiders are 3-1 at home so I can’t wait to see if the Raiders offense can score more than 30 points at home. I’m taking the Raiders by 7!
Final Score
Raiders – 27
Jets – 20
