on NBC, the Las Vegas, Raiders taking on the Cincinnati
Bengals. This
is a compelling game in my mind. The Raiders, a great
story, the way that they got into the playoffs,
a stirring performance issue year after John Gruden's,
abrupt resignation after the Henry, rug situation,
the horrible DUI
that resulted in alleged EU. I mean, it's all still pending in
the court system, but The car accident, that claimed the life
of a 23 year, old woman and her dog was just horrible and it
created distractions, and
adversity and the Raiders survived at all. To get to
the postseason. They are the five seed after winning on
Sunday night. The Bengals of the four seed. The Bengals are
five point favorites. The line has crept in the Raiders
Direction. It was six and a half. Now, it's down to five
over under a 48.5
and I've got my Pixie locked in. I can take a screenshot and
send it to Pete. If you think I'm going to play any games,
here. I'll go. First, anytime you want.
To, I'll go last. Anytime you want me to you? Decide you want
to go first with this one? You want me to? I'll go over.
I trust you. I do and you're
usually very ethical and the fact that why I'm describing
the matchup or whatever, you usually type it in there before
I say my score. So I do trust you. We can continue that.
I will
I will rotate with you as far as who leads it off, just for
the banter for that aspect of it. I'll leave this one off
though. No problem. We'll go there.
Hey this game, you know, this is this
This is, this is to me.
The reason you kick the field goal to fear the Raiders at
the end of regulation last week. It is because you now have put
yourself to me in a position to maybe Advanced another round.
If you're the law, say Vegas, Raiders as compared to
if you went for the tie last week, you'd be going to Kansas
City and a team that, you know, outscored you 90 something to
12 or something like that, this year. It was a crazy
differential, The Bangles game. I know they lost its going to
say 32:13 from the first matchup, the
Gore's misleading
that game was, you know, they were
told to toe for a big part of it. As you heard me say
the other day. It was 1613 with it over a little five minutes left
in the football game. And then the Raiders had a late
turnover, and messed it up from there.
So that's where it fell apart. But I certainly think
the Raiders are capable of winning this football game. The one
thing I look at to here
with the Bangles offense, Mike,
you know, there's a big play Bangles
that they couldn't figure out how to get a big play against
the Raiders defense. The First time around, that was a real
issue. And I don't expect that to change, you know, Gus
Bradley the inventor of the Seattle scheme.
He's still the master of it and the little nuances within it.
And you know, they do a phenomenal job of really not
letting up many big plays and a football game, you know, even
last week there was no big plays until
okay gosh, it's 4th and whatever and we're going to
lose in the season's over and then
Justin Herbert forced the issue into some tight window. Is on,
must have it situations,
but you could see that and that's where I worry about
the Bangles. Here's the my biggest concern for them. And to me
the number one thing that can ruin the game for them.
At least on the offensive side of the ball.
The Bangles are not great at past protecting
if they don't have answers to block Yannick and gawk way and
Max Crosby. They're going to they're going to flirt with
being upset at home and and their, and their playoff game,
you know, the first time around
and gawk way, and Max Crosby got there early in the game.
Mmmmm, Joe Borough fumbled Raiders, picked it up or turned
it into inside the 10-yard line that led to their first points
of the game,
you know, so to me, that's something they have to be wary
about. I think this is a game that the Bangles offense is
going to have to be a little patient on that side of
the ball and realize it's not going to be about stats. It's
going to be about a little bit more surgical. We got to run
the ball, be efficient and play that style of football to where
it might not be as sexy as we've come to know with
the Bangles on, you know, their offense.
So, all right. Well, I wasn't sure. I didn't even get into
the Raiders deep, the Raiders offense first, The Bangles. We
got plenty of time to go back and forth. Okay, that's what
I was going to do.
I was going to just kind of break down that side. First of
going, a little bit here, just to give you my two cents on
the Bengals offense. First two, Raiders defense. And so let me
let me, let me, let me ask you, let me ask you some questions
and share my perspective because I agree with you. They
have to
keep the Raiders pass rush away from Jonesboro, right?
That game was played so long ago though. Both teams have
changed since then they've gotten better. Ever since then,
they both have gotten better since then. I think the issue
with the Bengals has been consistency and what we've seen
from the Bengals and
Joe borrow told me after they beat the Ravens.
I think it was week 7 in Baltimore, when,
you know, we, we've had several different occasions this year
where we said to ourselves. Hey, the Bengals are pretty
damn good and they proceeded to lose
the following week.
Sometimes two in a row, the fall, you know, the following
two games, but
week, seven against the Ravens whenever it was that they went
to Baltimore. That was when he first first started to notice
the heavy double teams of Jamar Chase,
which opened up the rest of the offense, whether it was Joe
Mixon running the ball, right? Or t Higgins, Tyler Boyd's he
do Zama contributes Splash play from time to time
and we saw what happened when the Chiefs
didn't commit to taking away. Jamar chase the historic day
that he had, which really nailed down the offensive
Rookie of the Year award for him. What do you think? The
Raiders will do
about Chase? And if they over Correct to take away Chase.
Will they leave too many openings in the rest of
the offense for jobber? Oh, yeah, I don't think so. They're not one
of those teams Mike,
you know, they're one of the Raiders are one of those
defenses where it's like again, it's it's it's Seattle three,
it's Seattle three, it's Seattle. Three, its cover one
man. To man as the curveball
they don't they don't do some of the stuff that we talked
about. It's very very rare that they double.
Buddy, or go outside the realm of what their scheme is, you
know, there
again, their Corners are a little there, a little bit.
Make, hey, let's be wary of where this guy is.
Hey, we play our cover three,
but they change some of the rules in the nuances is,
you know, as compared to from one week to Annex is going you
know, oh this team does a little bit of this more or does
a little bit of that.
So they tweak the rules and how they play it to a degree.
And that's where I see. This is
it's going to not be any different.
Now where I look at it to where I go.
Like you're right the Bangles offenses more explosive and
better now than it was at that point. When they played
the Raiders. There's no doubt. They've opened it up more. They
have more Avenues of ways. They can beat you on that side of
the ball.
The Raiders are The Bangles of not shown me, great
understanding of how to move the ball against the scheme,
even when you get into the Jets game,
there's a little difference issues there at times. Moving
the football. That's the same defensive scheme. Robertson.
Allah was up there in Seattle,
you know, with Gus Bradley.
So that's where I don't know if there's understanding of
the scheme and how to, you know, Crack the Code or break
the Matrix
as what I'm saying, but the one thing I do think they have,
because it's that three deep all the time.
It's going to be like one-on-one on the outside and
the Bangles towards the homestretch of the year. They
got a little bit into.
Wait. You're going to play man.
Then we're just going to play our guys better than you. He's
going to get open, Joe will Strike. And we'll take
the 15-yard come back or the 20 yard out route, Bill do that.
And that to me is something they can do. I think, to
exhaust
the state, the Raiders demons a little bit more and get
the ball to Chase his hands more than they did. The first time
around
exhaust is a keyword to because
the narrative as to Sunday was the Raiders are, much better
off. Winning the game and facing the Bengals, then losing
and going to Kansas City, but the problem is,
they had the 17 minute game on Sunday night. And trying to
play in Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon. Now, when we saw
that back in week 1 week 2, they had the overtime game at
home against the Ravens. They went to
Pittsburgh the following week. I said, there's no way they got
no chance against the Steelers in Pittsburgh home opener. For
the Steeler. They just beaten the bills. They're traveling
across the country. They played late into
the night on Monday. And of course the Raiders won the game
2617 straight up. So I don't know how much stock I put in
that but it's not easy.
It can't be easy. When you have a tough grind, it out, win with
your High off life on the line. You win it
literally at the 70 minute Mark and you got to pick it all up
and turn it around. And come up with a game plan and figure out
what you're
going to do and get your guys healed and get your team ready
and haven't rested
and take on a Bengals team that
that was able. Yeah. To rest some of its guys. They folded
the tents for the most part against the Cleveland Browns in
week 18. I think that's
a huge factor. That can't be overlooked here because
I was I'm going into that game on Sunday. You can make
the argument for either one. You could argue that
they're better off
facing the Bengals. You could argue. They're better off with
the extra day. Yeah. And playing a Chiefs team that they
know very well that they beat it. Arrowhead Stadium in 2020.
I do a lots changed since then, but
it's not like it's an automatic W for the Chiefs. If
the Raiders had come to town. It's not an automatic W for
the Bengals. All right, flip it over to when the Raiders have
the ball.
We've seen different guys step up from time to time this year.
Derek Carr has Played well.
More often than not, Josh Jacobs
has done a good job in the running game. Darren Waller
needs to get healthier and be more of a contributor. There
was earlier in the season, but what do you think about
the Bengals defense against the Raiders often? Yeah. It's
another interesting one, you know, first off like watching
that
game back. The Raiders receivers had a hard time
separating from the bangle. Secondary. They did,
you know again without Henry rugs
and I know and I know they got the Sean Jackson but he's not
as SAS as Henry rugs was or is Is they've
they've lost a little bit of like that guy that put pressure
on on a defense to go. Wait, they could call a post route or
a go route with this guy at any moment and strike 470.
So, you know, and there's a Jones. Good receiver, Renfro
good. Receiver
these they got some guys in the secondary and Cincinnati they
could they could cover them. They covered them when they
played man-to-man, they were all over some of the scheme
stuff that the Raiders want to do. You mentioned in
the Raiders are better at running.
Ball now than then
that certainly should be a month, another aspect. But
the one thing that jumped out about the first matchup and you just
brought up his name,
the Bangles had no answer for Darren Waller. They had none.
And we saw George kiddo go off against the Bangles.
And to me, this is the guy that they're going to be able to use
as their biggest pain or chip. And this football game.
They got into a little bit of a
Mojo and the third quarter of the last football game where
they had
Had Waller set off to one side as a receiver by himself and
then the other three guys on the other side of the ball and
it really put the Bangles in some issues because they were
like wait, okay,
you know, we can play a song Zone and whatever, but now we
might leave these three receivers to find little holes
in that soft Zone. Wait, play man-to-man
and we don't have a guy that can really match up with Darren
Waller and Pie him that way to me, that's going to be the guy
that I think the Raiders are going to formulate this game
plan around and really go. We're going to feed him.
Until you do something,
extraordinary to take him away
to help out some of our other guys who might not be
as explosive or dangerous.
He had 116 yards. That was a season high for Darren Waller
when they met in week 11, he played week 12 didn't play
week, 13 through 17 was back for week, 18, two catches
for 22 yards on nine targets. So
working to get back into a rhythm and a chemistry with
Derek Carr and I don't know how much
the Raiders can. We count on him. Now. If this is the week
that the
switch flips,
it could be a problem for the Bengals, right? If, if Darren
Waller is healthy and able to make a difference, but you know
the vibe changes when the season is on the line
it does and
and the Raiders just played a game where the season was on
the line, even though the tie would have still got them in
the head to get in position to tie the end to hold off
the Furious, charge by the, by the Chargers
up 15. The Raiders were, they blew that they had a hold on?
You know, there's
There's some of that mindset that I think is important that
creeps into into a team and the Bengals haven't been there yet.
You know, they
they're
there now. Joe burrow told me a few weeks ago that they viewed
some of these late regular season games like playoff games
because they don't have playoff experience,
but see they're getting their playoff
introduction against a team that
for the most part, has guys who don't have playoff experience
either. Yeah. It's new for them. Right. Derek Carr didn't
play in the game five years ago because he had broken his
ankle. Ankle in week, 17 and wasn't available for
the postseason game, the following weekend. So
there's there's a lot of,
of, in experience for both teams in this one. And,
you know, I look,
I you let me you go ahead. Go ahead and make your pick.
Well, listen, at the end of the day, I put mine in here.
I didn't hear.
Yep. I see it the end of the day. I mean, I think
the Bangles are the better football team. They're at home.
You said it? Yeah, the Raiders don't have much of a playoff.
Advantage. Other than like what you said last week, they kind
of played that game and the Bangles got to sit back and sip
on pina. Coladas
why they played the Browns?
No, I but I don't think that's enough of like, oh, wow,
the Raiders will be ready for playoff football
that much more greatly than the Bangles.
I think it's gonna be a close football game.
I'll say that I do. I'm going to take the Bangles,
but I'm going to have the Raiders covering the spread.
I'm going to go 21:17 Bangles in this one.
Yeah, I got 31:17. I think this one is eventually going to go
the Bengals way and get away from the Raiders. I think that
they'll be a point in the second half where they just
kind of
let the air out of the tires
and, you know, at a gym are Chase Big Catch here. A Joe
Mixon touchdown run there and that 14 point margin is going
to happen. So we agree on the outcome. Yeah,
we disagree on the spread. You've got the Raiders. I've
Got The Bangles.