Green Bay Packers vs. Oakland Raiders: What's the Game Plan for Green Bay?

The Green Bay Packers can build on their one-game NFC North lead this Sunday when they travel west to take on the Oakland Raiders in Week 15. 

The Packers (9-4) looked rejuvenated in their win over Dallas last week under a new offensive play-caller—head coach Mike McCarthy took over the duties from Tom Clements hours before kickoff.

On the other hand, the Raiders (6-7) have a young core of talent to make any game competitive—just as they did a week ago in their road victory over Denver. 

Sunday's game will be only the 13th meeting between these two teams with Green Bay having won the last six games in the series. 

Let's now get down to the game plans the Packers could use on both sides of the ball this weekend in their Week 15 matchup with the Raiders. 

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Offensive Game Plan

It's no secret where McCarthy's priorities stood last week in his first game back calling plays for the offense since last season. 

Eddie Lacy, who was benched two weeks ago after missing curfew before the Packers' Week 13 win over Detroit, was the clear focal point of the offense.

Lacy finished with 24 carries for 124 rushing yards—both season highs—as McCarthy made an effort to move the ball via the ground game while also building confidence in his third year back. 

It was Lacy's third 100-yard game of the season—all of them coming in the last four weeks with the outlier being the Lions game, when he saw just five carries. Sunday also continued a recent trend in Green Bay that's seen Lacy's role in the offense increase with each passing week.

Split	Carries	Rushing Yards	Yards/Carry	Yards/Game
Weeks 1-9	83	308	3.7	38.5
Weeks 11-14	68	333	4.9	83.3

Note: Packers had a bye in Week 7 and Lacy sat out Week 10 with an injury

The table above compares Lacy's season totals from his first nine games of this year to those of his last four. 

You can see just how much more production he's provided at running back lately after such a slow start to his 2015 campaign. In that nine-game stretch to begin the year, Lacy failed to record a single game with either 20 carries or 100 rushing yards. 

Of course, in his last four contests, the only time he didn't reach either of those numbers was when he sat for most of the Detroit game. 

It's easy to point to the rise in Lacy's touches from Weeks 11-14 as the main reason he's done better recently. Yet Lacy himself admits he became complacent early on after reeling off back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in his first two years in the NFL.

"I think sometimes when things come easy to you, you kind of ease off a little bit and you get lax," Lacy said Thursday, via Rob Demovsky of ESPN. "And things need to happen in order to wake you up and show you that it can be taken away, it can get difficult."

We know now that Lacy not only had his production taken away to start the season, but McCarthy took his tailback's playing time away as well—Lacy has been demoted twice this year with the most recent coming two weeks ago.

Lacy has noticeably run harder after his brief benchings, and the numbers back it up. According to ESPN Stats & Info, Lacy has averaged 2.8 yards after contact per carry in his last four games—more than a full yard better than his 1.6 average in the nine games before. 

Expect the Packers—with McCarthy still calling plays—to ride Lacy the rest of the season. Down this final stretch of 2015 and heading into the playoffs, Green Bay will need Lacy at the top of his game and confidence level if it wants to win.

If the above evidence wasn't enough, consider the Packers are dangerously thin at receiver right now. Davante Adams suffered a foot injury in practice Thursday and remains questionable for Sunday's game while rookie Ty Montgomery had a setback in his recovery from a bad ankle sprain and was unable to practice Thursday. 

Defensive Game Plan

Fortunately for the Packers, they'll be facing a young Raiders offense that has yet to reach its prime as a unit. 

Derek Carr possesses one of the league's best new arms, and he has plenty of weapons to choose from in the passing game. There's the veteran Michael Crabtree and rookie Amari Cooper at receiver and talented running back Latavius Murray, who requires a good amount of respect on the ground as well. 

Chris Keane/Associated Press

Now for the bad news—which Green Bay saw coming. 

Cornerback Sam Shields, who's been matching up with opposing top wideouts for much of the season, will not make the trip to Oakland this weekend as he sits out with a concussion, McCarthy said Friday. 

So it'll be rookie corners Damarious Randall and Quinten Rollins who will go head-to-head with Crabtree and Cooper on Sunday.

These two matchups could likely determine how well the Raiders move the ball on offense. Carr has become a good enough passer in his second NFL season to exploit the slightest of mismatches.

We'll have to see if Randall and Rollins are assigned opposite sides of the field or given specific receivers to cover—but either way, the rookies will have their hands full. Cooper leads Oakland in receiving yards (920) but Crabtree is the team leader in receptions (70) and receiving touchdowns (seven).

Players to Watch

WR James Jones

Matt Ludtke/Associated Press

Before the Raiders had Cooper and Crabtree, they had James Jones last season as the leader in the receiving corps. Jones led Oakland in receptions (73), targets (111) and touchdowns (six) in 2014 as the team's reliable veteran before he was cut in May with two years left on his contract.

Although Jones has denied having any extra motivation heading into Sunday's game, you can bet Aaron Rodgers will want his teammate to have a big day against his former team.

The Packers will also likely be without Adams and Montgomery in the passing game, which leaves Jones and Randall Cobb as the top two wideouts for Rodgers. 

Raiders FS Charles Woodson

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Like Jones, Charles Woodson will be facing a team that turned its back on him not too long ago. 

The Packers released their star defensive back after the 2012 season and, like the Raiders, chose to go in a younger, different direction at the position.

You can bet Woodson would love to get his hands on a Rodgers' pass at least once on Sunday—just as he did in practice when he donned the Green and Gold for seven seasons. 

Raiders DE Khalil Mack

Oakland's second-year defensive end is one of the best young defenders in the league. 

After his five-sack performance against Denver a week ago, Khalil Mack leads the NFL in sacks (14) and has nine in his past three games. 

He's clearly on a hot streak and will present big challenges on the edge for Packers tackles Bryan Bulaga and David Bakhtiari come Sunday. 

Game Prediction

Although Green Bay is favored by 2.5 points heading into this Week 15 showdown, according to OddsShark.com, Oakland is no pushover. 

The Raiders are still mathematically alive in the AFC wild-card race and are fresh off a road upset of the Denver Broncos last week. Even if they don't reach the playoffs, this final stretch of the season presents a building-block for the future for their young stars on both sides of the ball.

On the other hand, Lacy and the Packers offense look rejuvenated after their 28-7 demolition of the Cowboys a week ago behind 230 total rushing yards. 

If McCarthy chooses to ride Lacy and the running game once again, the Packers may find themselves on top. Yet this contest may just turn into a shootout with Cooper and Crabtree causing all kinds of trouble for Green Bay's rookie corners. 

We should know early on what type of game this will be, but either way, Lacy and Rodgers will have to be at their best so as to outscore their home opponent. 

Final Prediction: Packers 31, Raiders 24