The Las Vegas Raiders will look to shake off a bitter loss at the hands of the defending Super Bowl champions in Week 12 when they take on the Atlanta Falcons on the road this coming Sunday. Check out our preview of this Raiders vs. Falcons game below.
The Raiders got dealt with a painful 35-31 loss at home by the Kansas City Chiefs last Sunday, but even in defeat, Las Vegas proved its credence as among the most dangerous teams in the league. If not for Patrick Mahomes being a super quarterback, the Raiders surely would have that game in the bag. Derek Carr is simply having a fantastic season. Carr went toe to toe with Mahomes and finished with 275 passing yards and three touchdowns with an interception on 23-of-31 completions against Kansas City. On the season, Carr has 2,431 passing yards and 19 touchdowns with only three interceptions. With an excellent offensive line in front of him, Carr should be able to take care of business against an Atlanta defense that’s just 25th in the NFL in terms of defensive sack percentage (4.35). Carr has not been sacked in the last two games, and will face the Falcons’ stop unit that is second-worst in the league with 300.3 passing yards allowed per game.
The Raiders are 6-1 against the spread in their last seven road games.
The Falcons got denied a third-straight victory on Sunday during a 24-9 home loss to the New Orleans Saints. It’s almost a miracle that quarterback Matt Ryan finished that game alive after he was sacked a total of eight times for a loss of 36 yards. It’s as though he stole money from Atlanta’s offensive line, given the quality of protection he had in that game. It doesn’t figure that Ryan will take so much punishment again in the pocket in Week 12. Like Atlanta, the Raiders have a near-toothless pass rush that is ranked 31st in the league with a 2.8 defensive sack percentage. The Raiders have only 11 sacks on the season. Despite the struggles on offense, having Ryan under center means that the Falcons can’t be taken for granted. The Falcons have the second-best passing attack in the NFL, as they are averaging 280.6 passing yards per game.
The under is 3-1 in the Falcons’ last four home games.
