The New England Patriots' Week 15 game against the Las Vegas Raiders could have a major impact on their playoff aspirations. With that said, ahead of the highly anticipated showdown, we’ll be making our Patriots Week 15 predictions.

Sure, the Patriots are 7-6 and hold the last playoff spot in the AFC entering Week 15. However, the 5-8 Raiders are their only game remaining against a team with a losing record and certainly seems to be their most winnable game left.

Considering all that, here are four bold Patriots Week 15 predictions for Sunday's contest.

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4. Mac Jones and the Patriots' offense play fine

There are some favorable numbers for the Patriots' offense heading into their Week 15 matchup against the Raiders. The most notable is that Las Vegas has the worst pass defensive DVOA in the league.

Obviously, the Patriots don't have the greatest aerial attack. But Mac Jones has shown glimpses of good play since the Patriots' bye week. He's completed 70.8 percent of his passes (third-best in the league since Week 11) for 1,058 yards (fifth-best in the league since Week 11) over his last four games, per MassLive's Mark Daniels.

What's even more impressive is that Jones had done that with an offensive line that hasn't played too well and has dealt with injuries. Not to mention that they have dealt with injuries to the four-best skilled position players at points during that stretch.

That's where there might be a problem on Sunday, though. Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby presents a problem against any offensive line–good or bad, healthy or unhealthy. He's fifth in the league in sacks (11.5) and will likely lineup opposite of whoever the Patriots play at right tackle, which has been the Patriots' worst position this season. Chandler Jones is on the other edge and while he hasn't had the best season so far, he's recorded four sacks over the last two games, presenting a major problem to a weakened New England offensive line.

Those issues might be highlighted even more considering the Patriots' health going into Sunday's game. Running backs Rhamondre Stevenson and Damien Harris are questionable. So is leading receiver Jakobi Meyers, who is coming off a concussion. Meanwhile, receiver DeVante Parker's been ruled out for the same injury.

Las Vegas' run defense is 10th in total yards, so having Stevenson and Harris instead of two rookie mid-round picks would certainly be huge help for New England. And having Meyers as a safety valve would certainly help against a Raiders pass rush that's seemed to figure things out in recent weeks.

Still, we saw Jones have the best game of his career against a similarly bad secondary in the Minnesota Vikings just a few weeks ago. And if Meyers can play, it isn't unreasonable to think that Jones can't have at least a good performance again, which he's seemed to do recently.

3. New England's defense will stop Josh Jacobs

The NFL's leading rusher won't look the part on Sunday.

The Patriots host one of the league's better run defenses, ranking 12th in total rush defense and 10th in rush defensive DVOA. And Josh Jacobs typically hasn't played too well against the better rush defenses this season.

In fact, Jacobs has only played against two teams that rank in the top 10 in rush defensive DVOA so far this season and hasn't put up good stats in those games. He's rushed for 165 yards on 40 carries, good for 4.1 yards per carry with a touchdown.

As noted earlier, New England's run defense hasn't been too great, but it has held its own at times. Sure, the Patriots allowed James Conner to rush for 85 yards on 15 carries last week, but he's also one of the biggest running backs in the league. A few weeks ago, New England slowed down Dalvin Cook, whose frame is more similar to Jacobs, allowing only 42 yards on 22 carries.

Jacobs probably won't have as bad of a game as Cook did, but I wouldn't be surprised if we see similar results.

2. But they won't have an answer for multiple Raiders receivers – including Davante Adams

The Patriots' pass defense played great this season, until they started going up against legitimate talent.

After going up against some of the league's worst passing attacks and quarterbacks, the Patriots have gone up against either the league's best quarterbacks or receivers (or even both in one instance) in each of the last three games. All three have led to pretty bad results. Justin Jefferson had a 139-yard day. Stefon Diggs had a 92-yard day. DeAndre Hopkins had a 79-yard day last week, but was also catching passes from a backup.

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So, Jonathan Jones has clearly been miscast as a No. 1 corner and with Jalen Mills out, he'll have a tough time going up against Davante Adams on Sunday. Adams has obviously been one of the league's best receivers this season, ranking in the top five for receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns. He also reportedly destroyed the Patriots' secondary during their joint practices in training camp.

Adams likely won't be the only Raiders receiver to have a big day, either. Hunter Renfrow is expected to return and Darren Waller might come back from injury for Sunday's game. Mack Hollins has also proven to be a capable secondary receiver this season too. All of them will go up against a Patriots secondary that will be without Mills and potentially Jack Jones.

Not only is there a clear matchup advantage in terms of skill for the Raiders' receivers against the Patriots' secondary, but they also have Josh McDaniels, who knows the Patriots' system inside and out on their side. If Matthew Judon and Josh Uche aren't able to get to Derek Carr, things could get ugly for the Patriots' defense on Sunday.

1. The Patriots lose by multiple scores

This game has shootout written all over it, and the Patriots are just not well equipped for such a game.

New England's offense has constantly left points on the field throughout the season as it ranks last in red zone efficiency. Moreover, the Patriots are 0-6 in games they've allowed at least 20 points this season.

The Raiders just have more talented horses on their side. Davante Adams is just too much for New England to handle. The same could possibly be said for the rest of their receiving corps while the Patriots will try to go toe-to-toe without DeVante Parker and an, at best, Jakobi Meyers who would be coming off an injury.

I suspect the Raiders will win by a score of 34-23 to dampen the Patriots' playoff hopes.