Sunday October 31st, 2010 4:15 PM EST
Line: Oakland -3
Overview
It may seem hard to believe, but Pete Carroll has led the Seahawks to first place in their division and a 4-2 record. They travel to the Bay Area to take on the 3-4 Oakland Raiders, who destroyed the Broncos last week by 45 points on the road.
While the Seahawks and Raiders both have shown improvement from last season, the two teams have faced unbelievably easy opponents thus far, making them difficult teams to read.
Keys to the Game
If the Seahawks want to survive, they have to stop Darren McFadden. McFadden rushed for 165 yards and scored four touchdowns in the game against Denver. Aside from the game in which he left early in due to a hamstring injury, McFadden has rushed for 95 yards or more in every game he has played in this season. Despite missing 2.5 games, McFadden is still the eighth leading rusher in the NFL this year. The Seahawks have made stopping the run a priority this season and rank second in the league in doing so. How the Seahawks fair against McFadden will directly affect the outcome of the game. The Seahawks can’t stop the run, but the Raiders can’t throw it either. The Raiders have a trio of quarterbacks, none of which are very effective. Kyle Boller, Jason Campbell and Bruce Gradkowski are all viable candidates for the starting job, but the Raiders won’t see overwhelming success with any of them under center. The Seahawks need to stop the run and force Jason Campbell to make throws down the field. Aside from Zach Miller, the Raiders have receivers who excel at breaking away on deep routes. None of the quarterbacks have a skill set that coincides with their receiving corp, which explains why Miller is the leading receiver on the team. Seattle needs to key on Miller. The Raiders have the potential to create mismatches...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
