Keys to a road win
The Las Vegas Raiders play at the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. Kickoff is set for 10 a.m. PT.
Here are five keys to a Las Vegas victory:
Consistency at quarterback:
Raiders’ starting quarterback Aidan O’Connell was far from perfect in a 19-14 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 16. But he made some plays. The key for him build on it and play well for a second straight game. That has been his issue. Of O’Connell can play well, the Raiders can win.
More Bowers:
A key for O’Connell to have to a good game is getting the ball to rookie tight end Brock Bowers. After combining for six catches in Weeks 14 and 15, Bowers exploded for 11 catches for 99 yards against Jacksonville. Bowers can get the Raiders all-time single season catch record of 108 with seven catches, he can break Mike Ditka’s rookie tight end receiving yardage record of 1,076 yards with 10 more yards and he can set the NFL rookie reception record with five more catches. Let’s see him shatter the record in the Big Easy.
Run the ball:
The Raiders have struggled to run the ball most of the season and they had just 69 yards on the ground last week. They need to establish a better ground game. Getting Alexander Mattison and Ameer Abdullah is key.
No turnovers:
The Raiders have been losing the turnover battle all season. Against Jacksonville, though, they didn’t have any have turnovers and the Jaguars had two turnovers. That’s a formula of winning. Let’s see it again.
Play good defense:
The Raiders have been playing some bad offenses lately and that will be the case against the Saints. Let’s see the Las Vegas defense, which forced seven Jacksonville punts last week, looks against the Saints’ offense, which is awful and coming off a 34-0 loss at Green Bay.