ok DBC lets break down the Saturday night Show-Down

Well lets see , The Patriots havent been tested on a football field on a month . 3 of the last 5 games The Raiders have played have been on Saturday .


Matchup : Tom Brady vs. Rich Gannon

I think The Pats may be in for a suprise when they see how hard it really is to get to Rich Gannon . If we give him the time he got last week he can run and throw , the Pats LB's will have their work cut out for them against Gannon .

From what I've seen of Brady he really isnt a great QB, All he does is be efficient and not make mistakes, The Raiders line may not be able to get to him and if you give any QB time he can complete the pass . The Pro Bowl Starter and The Pro Bowl Backup should be a great match

Edge - Raiders by a hair

Matchup : Tim Brown and Jerry Rice vs. Ty Law and Otis Smith

I look for Tim Brown to be the X Factor in this game . Brown still has a few years left and he can still run his routes over the middle . I think Rice may get nmore attention then he deserves in this game freeing up Brown to be man on man .

Troy Brown and David Patten vs. Charles Woodson and Eric allen/Tory James

Allen was hurt in the Jets game I dont know if he will play or not .

I think The Patriots may use some trick plays and things like screens to get Troy Brown involved in the offense early and often , Patten is a WR who was underated and cut in Cleveland, he can burn you if you give him space . Woodson still doesnt practice since his turf toe injury and has been playing on sheer will the whole last half of the season . He is a Pro Bowl CB for a reason but The injury has wore him down leaving WR's open late in the game.

Advatage : Even

Matchup : Antowain Smith vs Garner/Wheatley/Jordan/Kirby/Crockett

I expect The Pats to stack the line and take away the running game again , I think that Gruden knows he needs to run the ball anyways and will use any RB he wants to get those tough yards . I dont know how well it will work , Garner caught 72 passes this season and is always a threat to take a pass to the house . The Pats run D has been about the same as the Raiders , giving up a little over 100 yards a game . I expect Smith to get a lot of carries, and be teh only Pats RB to get carries . I do think Smith is overated because of all the 1000 yard rushers in the league he ranked last in yards per game .

Edge - Patriots


Matchup : Pats Offensive line vs Raiders D Line

Edge - Patriots , No contest here, The Raiders cant get through this revamped line .

Raiders offensive Line vs. Pats D Line

Edge - Raiders , They gave up the fewest sacks since 1992 despite losing Barrett Robbins one of the best Centers in the league and having so many injuries . The Pats D Line is young but I think they have talent similar to the Jets .


matchup - Raiders TE's and LB's vs Pat's TE's and LB's

Gotta give the Pats the edge here, The Tight Ends on both teams are really nobodies but Tight End is a forgotten position in Oakland. The Linebackers on The Raiders are veterans who can make plays but None of them are All Pro types.


Matchup - Raiders Special Teams vs Pats Special Teams

The Raiders kick coverage has been horrible when last year it was great with strangly the Same group of players . When Chad Morton was a rookie with the Saints last year he was the only Kickoff returner to get into Raider territory on a Kick return , last week he did that 3 times . Shane Lechler is obvisouly one of the best Punters in the League while The Pats had to cut Lee Johnson . Sebastian Janikowski is a good kicker who had 1 bad game this season , The Pats have a proven kicker who can make the presure kick .


Prediction

I hate to do this but the Raiders do not play well in cold weather .


New England 29 Oakland 26