The Falcons are a surprising 4-3 on the season while the Raiders are 1-1 under new head coach Tom Cable.  The Falcons will likely attack the Raiders on the ground first with Michael Turner (655 yards rushing, 4.5 ypc, 6 TDs) and Jerious Norwood (285 yards rushing, 6.3 ypc) as the Raiders allow 144.1 yards rushing per game and 4.5 ypc.  As soon as the Raiders cheat up to stop the Falcons running game look for rookie QB Matt Ryan to throw deep on play action getting the ball to Roddy White.  White has been unstoppable this season and the Raiders allow 218.4 yards passing per game.

The Raiders will also come out running the football as they average 129.3 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry.  The Falcons’ defense doesn’t really do anything well allowing 128.6 yards rushing per game and 232.9 yards passing per game so this could be the game that JaMarcus Russell plays well.  Coach Cable has wanted to take the training wheels off of Russell and this is the perfect opportunity to do it.

PREDICTION:  ATLANTA FALCONS 24, OAKLAND RAIDERS 20

This is probably not a good matchup for new head coach Tom Cable in his Raiders’ debut.  The Raiders will come out running the football against a Saints’ defense that stuffed Adrian Peterson and the Vikings last week.  Still, the Raiders will likely rotate Justin Fargas, Darren McFadden and Michael Bush to keep all of them fresh.  The Raiders are averaging 155.0 yards rushing per game and 4.8 ypc so they should have some success as the Saints allow 107.0 yards rushing per game and 4.5 ypc.  QB JaMarcus Russell definately has the arm to get the ball deep and the Saints will be without rookie CB Tracy Porter who is out for the season due to surgery to repair a dislocated wrist.  TE Zach Miller is Russell’s favorite target in the passing game but Javon Walker or Ronald Curry could have a good game here to jumpstart their season.

The Saints will try to throw the ball downfield to get the lead early to take the Raiders out of there running game.  Devery Henderson (31.7 avg) and Robert Meachem (33.6 avg) have been getting down the field and the Saints will no doubt be attempting to stretch a Raiders’ defense that is allowing 212.8 yards passing per game.  WR Lance Moore and TE Billy Miller will handle the tough stuff over the middle of the field for Drew Brees (97.7 QB Rating) who is having a outstanding season.  The Raiders’ defense better be ready to deal with Reggie Bush who has 533 combined yards rushing and receiving already this season.

PREDICTION:  NEW ORLEANS SAINTS 30, OAKLAND RAIDERS 20

The Chargers have won the last nine games against the Raiders including 5 out of the last six in Oakland.  Still, the Chargers can’t look past the Raiders who match up semi well with them in some areas.  The Chargers have not run the ball too well this season as they are only averaging 97.3 yards rushing per game and 3.7 yards per carry.  With the way Philip Rivers has played so far this season the gameplan could be to throw the ball to get the lead and then grind away at the clock with the running game.  The Chargers have only allowed 2 sacks this season but the Raiders will be blitzing him a lot as they already have 8 sacks this season.  With the Raiders having a effective pass rush it might be smart for the Chargers to work on the short passing game to the RBs and Antonio Gates to loosen up the Raiders’ secondary before going deep to WRs Vincent Jackson and Chris Chambers.

The Raiders will attempt to do what they do the best and run the football against the Chargers with Darren McFadden and Michael Bush.  The Raiders are averaging an amazing 182.7 yards rushing per game this season and 5.1 yards per carry.  The Chargers are allowing a stunning 5.0 ypc this season so the Raiders should get there running game going early and often.  The Raiders should take the training wheels off of JaMarcus Russell and let him throw the ball deep off of play action against a Chargers’ pass defense that is allowing 284.7 yards passing per game.

PREDICTION:  SAN DIEGO CHARGERS 27, OAKLAND RAIDERS 20

The Oakland Raiders got a nice road win last week but beating the Bills in Buffalo will be much harder.  The Raiders will use the recipe that worked against the Chiefs last week by pounding the football with rookie RB Darren McFadden (210 yards rushing, 7.0 ypc) and Michael Bush (90 yards rushing, 5.6 ypc) with Justin Fargas out of action due to injury.  But, they will have to mix things up a little better against a Bills’ defense that is only allowing 91.5 yards rushing per game and 3.8 yards per carry.  The Raiders will likely be careful throwing the ball down the field and challenging the solid corners of the Bills, prefering to settle for short stuff to TE Zach Miller.

The Buffalo Bills have run a pretty balanced offense this season (56 passes, 55 runs) and look for them to keep that up this week against the Raiders.  Look for the Bills to try to pass early to get a lead and take the Raiders out of there vaunted running game.  The Bills have been throwing a lot of shorter passes this season but look for them to let Trent Edwards (107.7 QB Rating) test the Raiders’ defense deep with Lee Evans (8 rec, 179 yards) often in this game.

PREDICTION:  BUFFALO BILLS 21, OAKLAND RAIDERS 10

These are two fairly evenly matched football teams who will likely prefer to run the ball in this game.  These two teams split last seasons’ series with the Chiefs outscoring the Raiders 30-29.  The Raiders will attack the Chiefs’ defense with the two-headed running attack of Justin Fargas (97 yards rushing) and Darren McFadden (46 yards rushing).  The Chiefs allowed 126 yards rushing against the Patriots last week so the Raiders should have some success on the ground.  To win this game though, the Raiders must trust JaMarcus Russell to throw the ball dowfield to Ashley Lelie, Ronald Curry and Javon Walker.  The Chiefs’ safeties must also keep tabs on TE Zach Miller who is one of Russell’s favorite targets.

The Chiefs will likely be content to feed the rock to Larry Johnson against the Raiders as he has rushed for over 100 yards in all 5 of his starts against them.  With Damon Huard starting at QB the Chiefs might open the offense a tad more than if Brodie Croyle was starting this game.  With that in mind, look for Tony Gonzalez to be effective on the shorter passes and for Dwayne Bowe to stretch the field for the Chiefs.

PREDICTION:  KANSAS CITY CHIEFS 20, OAKLAND RAIDERS 17