Three keys to a Raiders win on Sunday Night Football

The Oakland Raiders will host the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday Night Football in the final home game for Oakland this season. Though the Silver and Black no longer control their own destiny, they technically still have a shot at the playoffs if they win out and get help from other teams. But getting there starts with a win over the Cowboys on Sunday. And if they want to get that done, here are three keys they should focus on.

1 - Stop the Run Game

Even with Ezekiel Elliott out on suspension, stopping the run game and forcing Dallas to win with Dak Prescott is key. Elliott’s backup, Alfred Morris, is having himself a nice little season, averaging five yards per carry. And with an offensive line like the one in Dallas, you can understand why. Meanwhile, the Dallas passing offense is only averaging 200 yards per game. That isn’t to say Dak Prescott isn’t a good quarterback. He’s certainly capable of hurting the Raiders but he’s at his best when he is playing off of a strong run game.

2 - Don’t Let Dak Beat you With His Legs

In their loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, there were a couple of times when Alex Smith was able to take off and hurt the Raiders with his legs. Mobile quarterbacks have been a problem for Oakland for about as long as I can remember and it;s no different this season. And a quarterback doesn’t have to gain a ton of yards to really hurt Oakland with their legs, it’s more about when the runs come. Smith was able to convert first downs on plays where it looked like Oakland was going to come out on the positive side. But rather than getting a coverage sack, Oakland saw Smith take off for a first down, killing any momentum and breaking the back of an already fragile defense. Getting off of the field on defense will be huge in this game, and containing Prescott will be a key to getting that done.

3 - Force Multiple Turnovers

One of the biggest regressions for Oakland this season has been the lack of turnovers created. Last season, it was one of the strong suits of this defense, but so far this season, it’s only managed to force 10 turnovers. That being said four of those turnovers have come in the last three games under new defensive coordinator John Pagano. Though they aren’t back to what they were doing last season, they’ve gotten better at forcing turnovers these past few weeks and will need to build off of that on Sunday if they want any chance of winning. Dallas is the better team, and a key to winning as an underdog is forcing turnovers. If the Raiders can do that and do it more than once, they have a shot at pulling off the upset.