The Oakland Raiders are 3-4 as their roller coaster season continues. In Week 9, they have a matchup with another team still searching for an identity in the 3-3-1 Detroit Lions.

If the Raiders want to win that game and find their way back to .500, they'll need some players to step up big time.

Who exactly will do that though? Here are two major X-Factors for the Raiders in their Week 9 matchup with the Lions.

Josh Jacobs

Josh Jacobs has been the Raiders offensive MVP this year. The rookie running back has been nothing short of spectacular.

Jacobs has had just one game this season where he averaged less than 4.0 yards per carry. That was in the first week of the season. Even then Jacobs was impressive, picking up 85 rushing yards and two touchdowns. The bad news is that Jacobs is currently questionable for the game. If he can't go, that's really bad news for the Raiders.

The offense has been shaky at times and Jacobs tends to steady that. He helps them control the pace of the game and have a better chance at winning the time of possession battle.

Oh, and the Lions are one of the worst defenses against the run this season. They have given up 130.7 rushing yards per game. That is the seventh most allowed per game this year.

Due to that, the Raiders' best game plan would be to run the ball down their throats. Run it early and run it often. However, that plan goes out the window a little bit if Jacobs can't go.

Yes, they have a very solid backup in Jalen Richard, but he's simply not Jacobs.

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Oakland's best chance will be giving the ball to Jacobs and letting him do what he does best. If he's healthy and can do that, there is no reason to believe he won't be a main factor in the Raiders picking up a big win and moving back to 4-4.

Benson Mayowa

The Oakland defense has not been good when it comes to picking up sacks in 2019. They have just 13 all year, which is the fifth least in the NFL.

However, they do have one standout when it comes to this category. That would be Benson Mayowa.

The defensive end has 5.5 sacks this season. Even more impressively, he's done so in just five games. After him, the next highest sack total on the team is just two (Maxx Crosby and Maurice Hurst).

Mayowa has picked up at least one sack in four of his five games so far. In two of those games, he has picked up more than one sack. He also has two forced fumbles already on the season.

Clearly, Mayowa has been an X-Factor for the Oakland defense this year. If he continues that trend in Week 9, the Raiders could walk away with a win.