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The Las Vegas Raiders‘ next matchup against the Cleveland Browns has the makings of a shootout. Both teams have strong offenses but also have very bad defenses. Outside of two disappointing games against the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers, the Browns have scored over 30 points in every game this season. The Raiders have put up over 30 in three games but haven’t had less than 20 in any game.
Unfortunately for the Browns, they’ll be without their best wide receiver. Odell Beckham Jr. will be out for the year after tearing an ACL in his knee. It’s a brutal development for Beckham, who has had a hard time being consistent in the Browns offense. Raiders safety Johnathan Abram sent a message to the wide receiver after the injury news dropped.
Abram knows a thing or two about missing most of a season due to injury. He was able to come back and has been a strong performer this year. Beckham should do the same thing next season.
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Can Raiders Turn Things Around vs. Browns?
The Raiders looked like contenders after winning an impressive game against the Kansas City Chiefs. They were not able to build off that momentum and got punched in the mouth versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Raiders have had a ridiculously difficult schedule to start the year and it doesn’t lighten up quite yet.
They will now head to Cleveland to face off against a 5-2 Browns team. Considering the Raiders have struggled when they head to the eastern time zone, they could be in for a tough time. However, this also could be a really good opportunity for the Raiders to bounceback.
Outside of a win versus the Indianapolis Colts, every Cleveland win has come against bad teams. They probably have the weakest defense of any team the Raiders have played and Derek Carr should have a field day. Now, Las Vegas doesn’t have much of a defense either so it could be a scoring fest.
Raiders Should Have Reinforcements for Week 8
While the Raiders were hot heading into the Buccaneers game, they also were missing a number of key pieces. Abram was one of the pieces the team was missing due to him coming into contact with Trent Brown, who tested positive for COVID-19. The Raiders obviously missed him as Tom Brady was able to move up and down the field seemingly at will.
Abram has already been activated off the COVID-19 list so he should be good to go against the Browns. Trent Brown is still on the COVID-19 list so his status is still up in the air. The Raiders would obviously be very happy to have him back. There’s a reason he’s the highest-paid player on the team. The team’s run game was nonexistent against Tampa Bay and that definitely had at least a little bit to do with Brown not playing. The Raiders rely on their offensive line but they haven’t had all the Week 1 starters on the field together outside of a couple of snaps. If they can get that group healthy, the Raiders defense will be hard to stop.
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