The Oakland Raiders (5-10) have been very inconsistent all season but they have an opportunity to spoil the Baltimore Ravens (8-7) playoff hopes on Sunday.  If the Raiders beat the Ravens then they are out of the playoffs, but if the Raiders lose then the Ravens will clinch a spot in the playoffs.  The Raiders would love to crush the Ravens season, but it will not be easy.  The Ravens are the better team and are playing for a lot more.  The Raiders quarterback situation has been awful all season, and despite throwing three interceptions last week Charlie Frye is the starter again.  The Ravens secondary has not been very strong lately, so the Raiders only hope are some big plays down field.

Joe Flacco has had a very solid season for the Ravens at quarterback, but if the Raiders can somehow force Flacco into some bad throws they will have a chance.  The Ravens lead the NFL in penalty yards, so if the Raiders can rattle Flacco and the offense they may start hurting themselves with penalties.  The Ravens are playing for their playoff lives though, and they are the better football team, so I don’t see the Raiders winning this one.

PREDICTION:  Oakland Raiders 13, Baltimore Ravens 27

The Oakland Raiders did not fair too well against the Denver Broncos in their first meeting this season, and things are not looking too good going into Sunday’s game.  Bruce Gradkowski is out, and since JaMarcus Russell has been a disaster this season Charlie Frye is going to be the starting quarterback for the Raiders.  He has thrown for 3,573 yards and has 16 touchdowns compared to 25 interceptions in his career.  He is not exactly your ideal starting quarterback, so I’m guessing the Raiders offense is going to look pretty bad.

Defensively, the Raiders need to make sure they stay with Broncos’ receiver Brandon Marshall.  Marshall caught an NFL record 21 passes last week for 200 yards and 2 touchdowns.  If he has another game even close to that the Raiders probably wont have a chance.  Kyle Orton likes to look his way a lot, so maybe the Raiders can jump some routes and get an interception or too.  They are going to need some turnovers if they want to win this one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Denver Broncos 24, Oakland Raiders 10

The Oakland Raiders (4-8) have been finding more success with Bruce Gradkowski as their quarterback, and they will be looking to continue some of that success against the Washington Redskins (3-9).  The Redskins are better then what their record shows, as they have lost a lot of close games.  The Raiders defense is pretty weak at stopping the run, but fortunately for them the Skins’ running backs are banged up.  Both Clinton Portis and LaDell Betts are out, so Quinton Ganther will start and share the carries with Rock Cartwright.  Although they are not the Redskins’ top backs, they are still solid NFL running backs so the Raiders need to bring it.  Jason Campbell had a big day in the air last week against the Saints, but he has been inconsistent and has thrown 12 interceptions this season.

Justin Fargas has had two solid games in a row for the Raiders at running back, but they are looking for him to take it to the next level.  The Redskins give up 121 rushing yards per game, so Fargas will have opportunities to make some plays.  Bruce Gradkowski makes this team go though, and when he plays well they have come from behind to win games.  If Gradkowski plays well the Raiders will have a great shot at winning as the Redskins cannot hold a lead.  Still, I’m going with the Redskins in a close one.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Washington Redskins 24, Oakland Raiders 20

The Oakland Raiders are away this week against the Pittsburgh Steelers.  Unfortunately for the Raiders, Ben Roethlisberger is back for the Steelers after missing last week with a concussion.  Roethlisberger won’t have to do too much though, and will be handing the ball off a lot since the Raiders really struggle at stopping the run.  Rashard Mendenhall will likely run all over the Raiders weak run-defense and this could be a tough game for the Raiders defense.

The Raiders offense has been awful all year, especially their passing game.  Bruce Gradkowski has been much more effective than JaMarcus Russell, but that is not saying much at all.  The Steelers have a great run-defense so they are going to need Gradkowski to have a big game.  Gradkowski is not the type of guy to win a game on his own, so this will likely be another blowout loss for the Raiders.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Oakland Raiders 7, Pittsburgh Steelers 28

The Oakland Raiders (2-6) are hosting the Kansas City Chiefs (1-7) Sunday and are looking for their second win this season against the Chiefs.  In their last match-up the Raiders squeezed out a close 13-10 win when Darren McFadded scored with about a minute left in the game.  McFadden has been out with a knee injury since 5th week, but the Raiders will have him back in this contest.  The Raiders did give up 409 yards to the Chiefs last game, but got two turnovers.  The Raiders will need more turnovers if this rematch, or they need to do a better job limiting the Chiefs’ yardage.  Both would be nice, but it is the Raiders so i doubt it.

JaMarcus Russell needs to have another turnover free game, like he did in the Raiders last game against the Chiefs.  Russel has had a terrible season, with 2 touchdowns and 9 interceptions.  He will have some extra help with McFadden back, but I don’t know how effective McFadden will be in his first game back.  The Chiefs have a decent quarterback in Matt Cassel, but their running backs are unproven since Larry Johnson was dismissed from the team.  I think the Chiefs offense is still better though, and as long as JaMarcus Russell is a quarterback I never feel good about the Raiders winning.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Kansas City Chiefs 24, Oakland Raiders 20

The Oakland Raiders (1-1) are hosting the Denver Broncos (2-0) this week at the Oakland Coliseum.  The Raiders’ defense has been very strong so far this year and has been one of the surprises of the league in this young 2009 season.  The offense has been a different story though, as JaMarcus Russel has struggled a lot through the first two games.  He has had some plays though that show how talented he is, but the Raiders need more consistency out of him at the quarterback position.

The Raiders are going up against one of the best defenses in the league.  First year head coach Josh McDaniels has sparked a new life into the Broncos defense and they are the reason this team has been successful.  The Broncos offense has not been very strong and quarterback Kyle Orton has been mediocre at best.  He has two touchdowns, but one was a tipped pass at the end of their week one game, where Brandon Stokley caught the tipped ball and ran it in for a last second victory.  So, the Broncos should be 1-1.

The Raiders defense is definitely going to be effective against the Broncos and I am expecting them to force some turnovers.  I think the Broncos defense will do the same, as both offenses are no match for the defense they are going up against.  I think the Raiders do have more weapons on offense though, as they are young and talented.  That talent hasn’t been very effective thus far though, but if Russel can have a solid game the Raiders have a great shot at winning.  I think the Raiders defense is going to make some big plays and it will help the Raiders pull off the upset and beat the Broncos late.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Broncos 20, Raiders 24

I think the Raiders are going in the right direction as a football team but it’s going to take some time before they start winning a lot of football games.  With that in mind I would have to side on the under.  But, if the Raiders can control the clock with their running game they might be able to pull out some close, low scoring games.

The Raiders have cut running backs Adimchinobe Echemandu and Louis Rankin despite both having huge preseasons.  Echemandu carried the ball 9 times for 107 yards (11.9 ypc) for the Raiders in the preseason.  Undrafted rookie RB Louis Rankin was a star for the Raiders in the preseason with 21 carries for 148 yards (7.0 ypc).  The fact that the Raiders could cut these guys tells you what they think of the three RBs that they kept.

I hate to be the bringer of bad news but I would take the under.  The Raiders offense will still have problems putting points on the scoreboard because they haven’t really improved the offensive line.  It doesn’t matter who the QB is if he is running for his life every down.  Also, WRs Jerry Porter, Ronald Curry and TE Zach Miller don’t strike fear in the hearts of opposing defenders.  The Raiders will rely on their defense again to keep games close and hope they can make a coulpe big plays on offense.  Take the under.

The over/under for the Raiders is 6 1/2.  The Raiders are 50-1 to win the Super Bowl and 35-1 to win the AFC.

The suggestion here is to take the over.  The Raiders are going to be better this season due to Art Shell, and the Chiefs and Chargers are going to be falling a bit.