Merry Christmas! It's one of those rare occasions again where both the Raiders and Lakers play on National TV on the same night. #ReignTogether! This is the first half open thread of the Raiders' Week 16 Monday Night matchup vs. the Eagles in the City of Brotherly Love. Raiders may be eliminated from playoff contention with the Chiefs winning yesterday, but they still must play to win the game. Leave a comment below and share your thoughts on the game.
Q2
OAK 7 PHI 7
This is now a competitive game after this quarter. The offense wakes up. Amari Cooper catches the Eagles secondary with a double mood and Derek Carr delivered a perfect strike for the TD. Though the Eagles front seven has been stellar, their secondary outside of Malcolm Jenkins is shaky at best and the Raiders are exploiting that with quick throws and double moves. The defense is holding its own and their creating pressure in the pocket against a patchwork O-line and getting into Nick Foles face. It has disrupted Philly's passing game, making them one dimensional relying on the run. The only negative is of course the penalties. They're not going to get off the field as long as flags are flying in the middle of play or after the play. With nothing to play for, the Raiders are doing their best to play spoiler to shift the home field advantage to the Vikings in the NFC. They have to continue to exploit the secondary and get pressure on Foles. Foles is not athletic as Wentz, so that provides the defense a valuable advantage for the Raiders to get the upset. The 2nd half will open up shortly.
Q1
OAK 0 PHI 7
This game has less hype with the Raiders being eliminated from playoff contention. At this point, the Raiders might as well take some shots with nothing to lose. They did so going for 4th and 2, which was well-defended by Philly. Meanwhile, the Eagles still have something to play for and on that TD, they gutted the defense with a whole lot of run plays. Like I said in the comments, that drive alone was what Raiders offense aspired to be, but it failed miserably with Todd Downing calling the plays.
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