Jaguars vs. Raiders: Spread Info, Line and Predictions

With their seasons hanging by a thread, both the Oakland Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars come into Sunday's contest desperately needing a victory to stay alive in the playoff race.

The Raiders come into Week 7 having lost 23-20 last week in a heartbreaker against the Atlanta Falcons. After struggling all season to find some semblance of defensive consistency, Oakland created turnovers and looked like the solid team most thought they would be in the preseason.

On the other side of the field, things are looking far bleaker for the Jaguars. Though equaling the Raiders' 1-4 record, there are very few positive takeaways from Jacksonville's early slate of games. 

Nonetheless, the team had a bye week to prepare and could come out with a revamped game plan to take the win. 

With that in mind, here is a look at everything you need to know about Sunday's contest.

Where: O.co Coliseum in Oakland, Calif.

When: Sunday, October 21 at 4:25 p.m. ET

Watch: CBS

Stream: NFL Sunday Ticket

Spread: Raiders -4.5 (Bovada)

Though both sides have equally poor records and outlooks for the rest of the season, the Raiders have undoubtedly looked like the better team thus far.

Quarterback Carson Palmer, while sometimes easy joke fodder, has actually been quite good this season, especially considering the questionable receiving corps he's surrounded with. 

Also much maligned, the defense looked strong last week against Atlanta, picking off Matt Ryan three times, just 14 days after being embarrassed by Peyton Manning.

Meanwhile, outside of Maurice Jones-Drew, there are few positive takeaways for this Jaguars team. Blaine Gabbert is still largely ineffective and first round pick Justin Blackmon has not been the breakout receiver anyone had hoped he would.

This is obviously a lesser-of-two-evils pick, but the Raiders should win this comfortably.

Over/Under: 44 (Bovada)

 Sunday will go one of two ways: Either offense will reign supreme as this turns into a surprising shootout, or it will be an ugly affair that seemingly reverts offensive football to the leather helmet days.

For now, I'm going with the latter.

Despite both sides ranking in the bottom half of the league on defense, neither offense has shown much of an ability to get into the end zone, either.

Through six weeks, Jacksonville ranks dead last in the NFL, scoring 13 points per game. The Raiders aren't much better, putting up a paltry 17.4 points per contest (28th in the league).

Even if both sides score a touchdown (and extra point) above their average, that would put the final total at exactly 44 points. Too much risk to bet on anything but the under here.

Jaguars Injury Report (via CBS Sports)

S Dawan Landry, Knee, Questionable

S Dwight Lowery, Ankle, Questionable

WR Laurent Robinson, Concussion, Doubtful

DE George Selvie, Knee, Probable

LB Daryl Smith, Groin, Questionable

Raiders Injury Report (via CBS Sports)

TE Richard Gordon, Hamstring, Questionable

WR Darrius Heyward-Bey, Shoulder, Probable

K Sebastian Janikowski, Groin, Probable

RB Taiwan Jones, Knee, Questionable

RB Darren McFadden, Shoulder, Probable

WR Denarius Moore, Shoulder, Probable

TE Brandon Myers, Knee/Ear, Probable

DT Richard Seymour, Knee, Questionable

CB Shawntae Spencer, Foot, Questionable

Big Fantasy Plays

Jaguars: RB Maurice Jones-Drew

Some expected Jones-Drew to flounder in a post-holdout malaise in 2012, but he has actually been one of the few bright spots in Jacksonville thus far.

Though not as dominant of a force as last season, MJD has still gained 408 yards and averaged 4.9 yards per carry in five games. Considering he's facing loaded boxes on a weekly basis as teams dare Gabbert to throw, his performance has been nothing short of sensational.

Expect that trend to continue this week against a Raiders defense that comes into Week 7 as a middle-tier attack, ranking 18th in the NFL. 

As long as Mike Mularkey is not foolish enough to abandon the run the way he did against Chicago two weeks ago, this should be yet another solid performance from Jones-Drew.

Raiders: QB Carson Palmer

With six teams on bye this week, it's likely that owners are rummaging through the waiver wire, desperately trying to find suitable replacement options.

You could do a whole lot worse than Palmer, who has quietly been a very good fantasy option through six weeks. The Raiders signal-caller has been near or over the 300-yard mark three times in 2012 and has not had a multi-interception game yet, after having four such contests in 10 games last season.

Most of the reason for Palmer's fantasy success has been Oakland's continued failure to run the football. While Jacksonville's defense certainly poses little threat in that category, it's tough to think that the Raiders will get anything going on the ground until they fix their offensive line woes.

That should mean a very nice fantasy performance from Palmer, who is available in nearly half of ESPN leagues. 

Key to Jaguars Win: Find Some Semblance of Passing Offense

Gabbert has easily planted himself among the NFL's worst quarterbacks, but he hasn't done it in the traditional way of continually turning over the ball.

Instead, he's simply completed just 54.8 percent of his passes, which is the third-worst rate in the league, and led what seems to be a never-ending stream of three-and-out drives.

Coming into Sunday's contest, the Jaguars are last in the NFL in passing yards per game, and it's not even remotely close. Jacksonville is the only team in the league yet to reach 1,000 yards in total passing yards and to average less than six yards per attempt.

The Jaguars have little chance to win any game the rest of the season without finding some way to stretch the ball downfield and create some momentum.

With a week off to prepare, what we see on Sunday may be the team Jacksonville fans have to look forward to for the balance of the season.

Key to Raiders Win: Get Solid Run Blocking from Offensive Line

Nearly all of Oakland's offensive struggles can be attributed to the poor play of its offensive line.

According to Football Outsiders' advanced metrics, the Raiders' line ranks 31st in the league at run blocking.

Those struggles have forced Palmer into throwing the ball far more than anyone expected and has all but negated Darren McFadden's effectiveness this season. The explosive back has still been fantastic in the open field, but has gotten so few opportunities that it has usurped the team's offensive efficiency. 

It's likely that the Raiders can win the game with Palmer dropping back 40-plus times, but to get a comfortable win, McFadden has to perform well. As we've seen all season, that starts with the line actually opening up holes. 

Prediction

When comparing two bottom-tier teams, you have to look at the positives both teams bring to the table.

Through six weeks, there is merely one positive in Jacksonville and that won't be good enough to beat Oakland.

It won't be much of a fun game to watch, but I'm going with Oakland here.

Score Prediction: Raiders 20, Jaguars 13

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