Weeden: 14/40 120 YDs 1 TD 3 INT

McCown (Josh): 18/21 345 YDs 3 TD

Surprise for me was your D-lines' apparent lack of depth...

Looks like maybe a 3-man rotation for your 2 interior slots? Ellis, Williams and McGee?

No doubt the Raider Offense is on the verge of becoming very good. That said...

Competition-wise I think you'll find us closer to CIN than BLT. I expect us to be able to run on you at least as well as CIN did. And we'll need to do so to both set up our pass and rest our D.

Defensively as well I see us bringing pressure closer to what CIN did as opposed to what the Suggs-less Ravens were able to muster.

And the Raiders need to stay in OAK...

@stevenhoule said:

The Raiders will not win against the Browns in Cleveland. Oakland is an improved team but so are the Browns.

@wargograw said:

I know Tramon is solid. Of course Haden is too. But Oakland's third receiver is the Andre kid right? Wasn't he getting a ton of love last year?

@the-gipper said:

Here are the matchups for the game this week. Tell which units you think have the edge:

QB Josh McCown vs. Derek Carr

Carr, younger and better

RB/FB Isaiah Crowell and Michael Johnson v. Latavius Murray and Marcell Reese

Murray and Reese

TE: Gary Barnidge vs. Lee Smith

Toss up

WRs: Andrew Hawkins and Travis Benjamin vs. Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree

Cooper and Crabtree torched Ravens

OL: Thomas/Bito/Mack/Greco/Schwartz vs.

........Donald Penn/Gabe Jackson/Rodney Hudson/J'Marcus Wells/Howard Austin

Browns

Defense:

DL: Randy Starks/Danny Shelton/Des. Bryant (3-4) vs

......(4-3) Justin Tuck/Justin Ellis/Dan Williams/Khalil Mack

So far this year Williams and Mack and for many years to come

LBs: Mingo/Dansby/Kirksey/Kruger 3-4 vs.

Browns

........Ray Armstrong/Curtis Lofton/Malcom Smith

Not sure

DBs: Joe Haden/Tramon Williams/Donte Whitner/ Tashaun Gipson vs.

Browns

.........DJ Hayden/Keenan Lambert/Larry Asante/Travis Carrie

Browns

STs:

P: Andy Lee vs. Marquette King

Lee

K: Travis Coons vs. Sebastian Janikowski

Janikowski

PR: Travis Benjamin vs. Travis Carrie

Benjamin

KR: Shaun Draughn vs. Taiwan Jones

Draughn

One note: I guess I thought Mack played LB, but Ourlads has him as a DE....which is it?

DE

Which units have the edge here?

We do

I have to admit....I am unfamiliar with a lot of the Raiders players....except for the big names. I am not in much of a position to judge.

@tour2ma said:

It`s not just Mack, the Raiders as a team have not recorded any sacks yet. Yes Mack is mostly 3 pt so far……but the Raider D as a whole does not, or has not yet, dialed up anything creative with any exotic blitzes or anything. I think Ken Nortons D is based off speed to the ball but his base D is very basic. I`m guessing as games go on he will begin throwing more looks out there but who knows? Aldon Smith is still getting in game shape as he just signed on a few days before the season opener so it will be interesting to see how he progresses as well. The strength of the Raider D as of right now is against the run. They stuff the middle very well and Mack is excellent against the run on his side. Ray Ray Armstrong is the weak link as he always gets suckered inside and loses his edge on outside runs. Secondary is the weakest link as of now because of young inexperienced corners but I am hoping they get better with each game as well. That is why in my first post I said the Raiders are still unknown with so much youth right now in some key positions.

@canton-dawg said:

@PFF: Highest graded cornerbacks from Week 2:

1. T. Williams +3.4

2. C. Munnerlyn +3.4

3. D. Revis +2.7

4. A. Talib +2.6

5. M. Peters +2.4

I know Tramon is solid. Of course Haden is too. But Oakland's third receiver is the Andre kid right? Wasn't he getting a ton of love last year?

@the-gipper said:

K'wan is backup CB/Nickelback, .....so since this just compared starters which for CBs would be Haden and Tramon so I would think so.

The slot corner is a starter though. They play a ton of snaps.

@pog-mohan said:

Hello,

Visiting Raider fan here. Recent history suggests the Raiders will lose because they have been horrible on the road for several years. They also have rarely won back to back games in quite some time. Last but not least, Carr is 0-9 on the road. Having said all that, this is a new team and new staff. The hope is that Carr continues his growth as a franchise QB and we will see how he does after a very good game against BLT. As far as the match ups go that is difficult for me because the Raiders are still an unknown this year. I believe the talent is good on defense but they are still trying to gather chemistry with Ken Norton jrs scheme and with each other. They were horrendous in game 1 but a little less horrendous in game 2. I`m guessing they will get better each week but it will take most of the year until they really gel. I also noticed the OP forgot to list Aldon Smith, and we know what he is capable of. The offense is ahead of the defense. I expect a good to great year out of Murray however he hasn`t been asked to take a heavy load yet as the Raiders have thus far been very pass heavy. Will they go run heavy this week? Maybe.. Cooper is legit and Crabtree hash`t disappointed either. Carr likes to throw underneath a great deal but like last week showed, he can strike deep at any time and Cooper is the man able to do that. Our teams have a rich history and I look forward to a great game. Cheers!

Back at you...

Watched your Cinci game last Sunday and NFL Reply of it again this week. Was surprised to see so much 3-point from Khalil Mack. Was it the same story week 1?

Mack's numbers seem down so far vs. his 2014 pace. Is it the new system?

Agree on Carr. Especially taken by how obvious his leadership role was on the sideline last weekend.

@the-gipper said:

Fair enough way to look at it. I was just doing position comparison.

I hope you noted that I went out of my to not spoil the party... this week..

You're welcome...

@wargograw said:

Do our DBs still win with K'Waun our?

I don't see them being deep enough at WR to make K'Waun's status an issue...

Faded said:

Of course, even while I was typing that, someone posted two videos on another thread showing McCown doing just that. Still, I would't say that either of those two plays fit into the reckless category.

Timing is everything...

Visiting Raider fan here. Recent history suggests the Raiders will lose because they have been horrible on the road for several years. They also have rarely won back to back games in quite some time. Last but not least, Carr is 0-9 on the road. Having said all that, this is a new team and new staff. The hope is that Carr continues his growth as a franchise QB and we will see how he does after a very good game against BLT. As far as the match ups go that is difficult for me because the Raiders are still an unknown this year. I believe the talent is good on defense but they are still trying to gather chemistry with Ken Norton jrs scheme and with each other. They were horrendous in game 1 but a little less horrendous in game 2. I`m guessing they will get better each week but it will take most of the year until they really gel. I also noticed the OP forgot to list Aldon Smith, and we know what he is capable of. The offense is ahead of the defense. I expect a good to great year out of Murray however he hasn`t been asked to take a heavy load yet as the Raiders have thus far been very pass heavy. Will they go run heavy this week? Maybe.. Cooper is legit and Crabtree hash`t disappointed either. Carr likes to throw underneath a great deal but like last week showed, he can strike deep at any time and Cooper is the man able to do that. Our teams have a rich history and I look forward to a great game. Cheers!

@wargograw said:

Do our DBs still win with K'Waun our?

@PFF: Highest graded cornerbacks from Week 2:

1. T. Williams +3.4

2. C. Munnerlyn +3.4

3. D. Revis +2.7

4. A. Talib +2.6

5. M. Peters +2.4

@wargograw said:

K'wan is backup CB/Nickelback, .....so since this just compared starters which for CBs would be Haden and Tramon so I would think so.

@mudfly said:

Fair enough way to look at it. I was just doing position comparison.

@the-gipper said:

I think its more that matching position for position isnt really the way to view how a game will go.....Id be more like

Our OL vs their DL......Browns

Our DL vs their OL......Browns

Our Wr's vs their DB's.Browns

Our DB's vs their WR's.Browns

Special teams..............Browns

etc....

Personally, I give us the edge across the board....we get a solid win.....sayyy 28 -13 or so....

I think we have significantly more talented lines on both sides of the ball.

Ditto for secondaries...

WR... Cooper will be best one on the field, but overall I like us...

TE... push... at a fairly uninspired level... as long as Reese is used more as FB.

RB... sight edge to us overall, but FB nod goes to OAK.

QB... OAK... Carr's arm talent is undeniable, he's learning and it turns out he has legs, too. But he is not yet ready to carry the weight of a whole team... and that's the current QB job description in OAK.

LB... I love Mack, but as with Cooper at WR, he's only one guy. Last year the balance of their LB Corps raised their games, but they are gone from their 2015 roster. So I see us having an edge.

ST... Janikowski still has the thunderleg, but has never made a 48-yd extra point. Then we have Lee, but King is no dog (46+ ave.). While our STs are resurgent, even seems about right.

I expect Oakland to go run early and often though.

I basically look at it like: except for the WRs and kicker and maybe a wash at QB do not the Browns have the overall edge everywhere? While Oak has a couple of renown defensive players: Nip and Tuck....err Tuck and Mack, the Browns own the rest of the trenches/LB/DBs. Latavius Murray is not DeMarco Murray.