Raiders vs. Seahawks
These two teams are going in different directions. The Raiders started out 0-5, but have won their last two football games. The Seahawks have lost their last two games and have fallen to 4-3. The Seahawks have given up 94 points in their last three games.
The Raiders have the worst offense in the NFL (234.0 yards per game), but they have been able to run the ball well, averaging 111.0 yards per game and 4.1 yards per carry. So look for the Raiders to come out running with Justin Fargas (285 yards rushing) or Lamont Jordan (335 yards)….whichever one is healthy enough to play. The Seahawks give up 106.8 yards rushing per game and 3.8 yards per carry, so the Raiders could have some success. The Seahawks main weakness on defense is defending the pass, allowing 237.3 yards per game and 12 TDs. For the Raiders to be able to take advantage of that weakness, they will need to keep the Seahawks away from Andrew Walter. The Raiders have already allowed 35 sacks this season and the Seahawks have 21 so far, with LB Julian Peterson leading the way with 7. If Walter has time, Randy Moss has a way of having huge games on the Monday Night stage….so look out! Moss has caught only 26 passes for 371 yards with 3 TDs, but that is a result of bad line/QB play.
The Seahawks would like to try to run the ball against the Raiders, who allow 126.3 yards rushing per game and 3.8 yards per carry….but Maurice Morris has been a huge disappointment to the Seahawks, only averaging 2.9 yards per carry! The Seahawks are going with Seneca Wallace against a defense that picked off four passes last week and returned two of them for TDs. While it’s true that the Seahawks have a better receiving corps than the Steelers had, I’m sure Seneca Wallace doesn’t have the Raiders secondary losing any sleep about Monday Night’s game.
This game will be much closer than anyone expects. I would call for a Raiders upset, but I’m not confident that Andrew Walter can do enough to win this game. I’m sure ESPN can’t wait to air the Andrew Walter vs. Seneca Wallace on their Monday Night telecast.
