National Football League

Eagles-Raiders Preview

Published Oct. 31, 2013 3:23 a.m. ET

foxsports

The Oakland Raiders are hoping to make a push toward the playoffs, though it won't come easy if their offense continues to vanish after halftime.

Thanks in part to their instability at quarterback, the Philadelphia Eagles are having trouble producing any offense at all after a hot start.

Now the Eagles will turn back to Nick Foles, who will try to make the most of another chance Sunday against a Raiders team seeking its third straight win at the Coliseum.

Although the Raiders held on for a 21-18 victory over Pittsburgh last Sunday, they continued their recent trend of starting strong before having to rely on their improving defense in the second half.

Terrelle Pryor broke loose on a 93-yard touchdown run and Darren McFadden ran in a pair of scores to help the Raiders build a 21-3 halftime lead before they were outscored 15-0 in the fourth quarter.

"We got to find a way to keep on punching, keeping drives alive in the second half," said Pryor, the only quarterback leading his team in both passing and rushing yards.

Oakland has outscored opponents 59-20 while averaging 196.3 yards over the first 30 minutes in its last four games, but has been crushed by a 63-10 margin and generated just 91.3 yards in the second half of those contests.

On the season, the Raiders rank 12th with 185.9 yards per game and four turnovers in the first half but sit last in the NFL with 129.0 yards along with eight giveaways in the second.

"We've got to execute better," said coach Dennis Allen, whose team seeks its third win in four games. "We've got some opportunities to make some plays and we don't make the plays that are available to us."

Allen will give Pryor another chance to turn things around after he went 10 of 19 for a career-low 88 yards with two interceptions against Pittsburgh. He's connected on 52.8 percent of his passes for 304 yards with one score and five picks in his last two contests, though his 162 rushing yards have somewhat made up for it.

Now Pryor will try to help Oakland put together a complete offensive effort as it looks to reach the postseason for the first time since 2002.

The Raiders begin a soft part of their schedule against Philadelphia (3-5), followed by the New York Giants (2-6), Houston (2-5), Tennessee (3-4), Dallas (4-4) and the New York Jets (4-4).

"We've got an opportunity with Philadelphia coming in here, if we can play well, get our record back to .500 and maybe we can create a little bit of momentum," Allen said.

Though they're only one game behind Dallas in the NFC East despite two straight losses, the Eagles appear to be heading in the other direction after Sunday's 15-7 defeat against the Giants.

With Michael Vick out for the second time because of a hamstring injury, Foles makes his third start just two weeks after suffering a concussion against the Cowboys.

Foles has appeared in five games, two as a starter, and has completed 52 of 90 passes for 622 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions. He shined against Tampa Bay on Oct. 13, going 22 of 31 for 296 yards with three touchdowns, but completed only 11 of 29 attempts for 80 yards before getting knocked out against Dallas a week later.

"I feel very confident," Foles said. "Same confidence I had after the Tampa Bay game. You feel emotions, you are human. You play bad, you let everyone down."

Foles will try to jump-start an offense that has totaled three points in its last two losses after averaging 27.7 during a 3-3 start.

LeSean McCoy, who leads the NFL with 733 yards rushing, managed only 103 on 33 carries in his last two games. Leading receiver DeSean Jackson had 11 catches for 84 yards in those contests.

"I have confidence in the group," coach Chip Kelly said. "It's the same group for six games we were on track to set records. We're not going to do something new. We have to settle down and our playmakers have to make plays."

That could be a difficult task against Oakland, which ranks 10th in total defense (330.9 ypg) and has forced eight turnovers in its last three games after having three takeaways in its first four.

While the teams haven't played since 2009, the Raiders have won three of the last four meetings.