Subscribe
Follow Us
The Las Vegas Raiders welcome the Cleveland Browns to Sin City as both teams look to even their season record after starting 1-2. Ahead of this important AFC matchup between the Raiders and Browns, let’s make some bold Raiders Week 4 predictions.
The Raiders head into Week 4 with a massive injury crisis on its hands. Superstars Davante Adams and Maxx Crosby have already been ruled out and rookie first-round pick, tight end Brock Bowers, is doubtful. TE Michael Mayer, linebacker Divine Deablo, and right tackle Thayer Munford are either out or likely out as well.
For the players who are playing, they will have to give their best effort as head coach Antonio Pierce called out a few Raiders last week, saying he saw unspecified team members make “business decisions” in the loss to the Carolina Panthers. Pierce continued by saying the franchise may have to make business decisions, implying he will bench or cut anyone he doesn’t see giving maximum effort.
Luckily for the Raiders, the Browns are just as big a mess as the home team is this season. Tight end David Njoku, running back Pierre Strong Jr. and offensive tackles Jedrick Wills Jr. and Jack Conklin are all out for Week 4. Cleveland has also looked like it has given less than elite effort so far, especially star quarterback Deshaun Waston, who is facing more sexual misconduct allegations and seems disinterested at times on the field.
This game could essentially keep one team alive in the AFC playoff hunt and end the other one’s season. So, let’s make a few bold Raiders Week 4 predictions.
*Watch NFL games LIVE with fuboTV (free trial)*
The Raiders come out fired up
“I think there was definitely some individuals that made business decisions, and we'll make business decisions going forward as well,” Pierce said after the loss to the dreadful Panthers.
This type of comment is exactly what you’d expect from Pierce, who was a motivator as a linebacker and captain of the Super Bowl-winning New York Giants as a player and got his job by coaxing the team to five wins last season after the Josh McDaniels debacle.
Pierce’s comments likely got under players’ skin and this week’s practices hopefully reflected that. The head coach will remind his team of this ahead of the Raiders-Browns matchup, and the first of our bold Raiders Week 4 predictions is that the Silver & Black come out firing.
Hopefully, for Raiders fans, this will result in positive plays instead of penalties, because if it does, Las Vegas can end this game early.
Tre Tucker breakout game
With all the injuries, it means bigger, more important roles for players like rookie OT DJ Glaze, LB Amari Burnley, DE Tyree Wilson, and TE Harrison Bryant. The biggest opportunity, though, comes to second-year wideout Tre Tucker who will start next to Jakobi Meyers in place of Davante Adams.
Tucker, the 5-foot-9, 185-pound speedster is already the team’s fourth-leading pass-catcher behind Adams, Bowers, and Meyer with 11 catches, 131 yards, and a touchdown.
In the Raiders Week 4 tilt with the Browns, Tucker will have to be a key offensive piece and generate yardage and explosive plays if the Raiders hope to win. Through three games, the Raiders are dead last in rushing yards with just 153 total, so the team will have to win this one through the air without Davante Adams.
That’s where Tucker comes in. The 2023 third-round pick has son flashes of being a game-breaker, and in the Raiders Week 4 matchup with the Browns, he will be. Look for Tuck er to have 90 yards receiving, 30 yards rushing, and two touchdowns in this game.
Raiders 16, Browns 13
The last of the bold Raiders Week 4 predictions is that the team will beat the Browns and live to fight another day.
Last week, Pierce questioned his team’s effort, and the team should respond, despite all the key injuries. On the other sideline, there is a team that has had equally lackluster performances through the first three weeks, so on that level, this is a pretty equal deal.
The big difference is that the Browns QB is one of the biggest offenders here, and pretty much all the Raiders who are playing on Sunday are fighting for their spot on the team or maybe even their NFL life.
I’ll take fired up with desperation over… well, Deshaun Watson, any day of the week and twice on Sunday, as they say, so the Raiders win here and move to .500 on the season.
