RADIO
For the first time in a month, the fiery Oakland Raiders offense looked rather pedestrian after the Minnesota Vikings shut them down in Week 10. Fortunately for the Raiders, they’ll face a Detroit Lions team that isn’t very good at stopping anybody.
Don’t be fooled by their appalling victory over the Green Bay Packers last week, the Lions still aren’t a good football team, and the Raiders will exploit them.
Derek Carr has averaged 24 fantasy points per game over the last four weeks, even with a 17-pointer last week against Minnesota. Carr has picked apart nearly every quality defense this season, including his 300-yard performance against the Vikings. There’s no reason to think he can’t continue that dominance against a Lions defense that surrenders 260 passing yards and nearly two passing touchdowns per game.
With Amari Cooper, Michael Crabtree and Latavius Murray, Carr has myriad of weapons to work with, which is one of the reasons Oakland’s offense has been so dominant. Carr has a touchdown: interception ratio of 3.5:1, so look for that to improve against a terrible Detroit secondary.
Rookie sensation Amari Cooper has been everything as advertised since the Raiders drafted him No. 4 overall. Cooper notched 79 yards on five catches in Week 10, but the Vikings were able to limit his yards after the catch which has been a huge part of Cooper’s success this season.
The Lions won’t be able to do that. Another reassuring stat for Cooper owners is that he’s scored a touchdown in every other game this season. He failed to score last week, so this trend is telling us that he’s due to score against Detroit. Cooper is averaging more than 15 points per game when he scores a touchdown, so his owners should be in for a treat this week.
Michael Crabtree has been the perfect complement for Cooper this season. Not only has he given the Raiders another weapon on offense, he’s completely resurrected his career since coming over from San Francisco. Crabtree’s five targets last week were his fewest of the season, according to ESPN, but the Vikings have done a solid job shutting down just about everyone.
Even with his 5.5-point performance against Minnesota, Crabtree is still averaging 14.2 points per game over the last month. He’s also averaging about 10 targets each week, and another double-digit fantasy performance from Crabtree wouldn’t be surprising to see.
