Las Vegas Raiders

Week 13 Mailbag: Oakland Raiders

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

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Week 13 of the JBB Mailbag, answering questions from Twitter following the Oakland Raiders win over the Buffalo Bills.

This has become dangerously hilarious. The Oakland Raiders are 10-2, with a colossal showdown against Kansas City up next. Although with that being said, I know quite a few of you spent the first half of last Sunday’s game emotionally arrested on the sofa, based on social media.

Buffalo came out swinging, giving us their best combinations, and some of you were 140 characters deep in “same old Raiders” takes. But then, the second half.

There’s something about pushing this team into a corner that unleashes a spirited beast of desperation and execution. And call me a glutton for chaos, and cardiac arrest, but I love that in a team. It’s exciting, in a twisted sort of way — in a Raiders sort of way.

Note: Some of the questions were duplicates or similar to other questions that had already been asked. If you don’t see your question specifically responded to, that is likely the reason why.

The team.

What I mean by that is, aside from Dee Ford and Justin Houston, there’s not one isolated unit that is keeping me awake at night. But collectively, there’s something about this team — winning seven of their last eight — that unsettles me.

Not to mention, the trip to the woodshed they treated us to several weeks ago. I was foolishly overconfident going into that Week 6 matchup. So a December visit to Arrowhead? Yeah, that scares me.

The experts tend to refer to matchup’s such as Oakland’s offensive line versus Kansas City’s defensive line as a chess match. Raider Nation, chess is dignified — and this battle in the trenches is going to be anything but that. Think, The Walking Dead finale. These are the battles of will that JBB’s Blackhanside lives for.

I’m about as concerned with Carr playing in the cold as I am a White Walker fighting in the cold. Entering Week 13 just shy of 3,400 passing yards, Carr has been playing with ice in his veins for much of the season anyway. With the temperature expected to be in the mid-20’s, I don’t expect Carr to have any trouble adjusting.

It was the first matchup with Kansas City where Khalil Mack started to get into the groove he’s currently in now, by recording his second sack of 2016. He also recorded two tackles for a loss in that game. Fast forward to the present, and Mack looks as if he can’t be stopped, can’t be blocked, and most certainly can’t be bothered. For Chiefs tackles Eric Fisher and Mitchell Schwartz, it may be a long night.

Already with 10 wins, the Oakland Raiders are a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

I think what may get overlooked most, as it pertains to shorter weeks, is the preparation teams actually put in the week prior. For instance, the Raiders coaching staff taking a look at Chiefs film — again — towards the end of their preparation for Buffalo.

Each team, from a preparation standpoint, approaches the shortened weeks differently. What works for one staff may not work for another. Luckily, Kansas City is a divisional foe that our team has already seen once this season, therefore, regardless, the Raiders weren’t starting from scratch in their preparation for Thursday night.

Absolutely. I believe that Oakland, Kansas City, and Denver is a three-way rat race that, in my opinion, that will come down to the outcome(s) of Week 17 — even in the event Oakland wins on Thursday.

Fortunately for us, this is a Raiders team that continues to improve, and is building momentum at the most opportune times. I’m confident in this team closing the regular season strong, and setting the proper tone for the postseason.

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