The Tennessee Titans (7-5) head to the East Bay to take on the Oakland Raiders (6-6) in Week 14 NFL action. Here are my three keys to victory for the silver and black:

Slow Down Derrick Henry

Similar to the Raiders, the Titans like to run a smash mouth style of offense. That starts and ends with Derrick Henry, their star running back, who has 232 carries for 1,140 yards on the season, adding 11 touchdowns. As impressive as that is, it’s been taken to a whole new level recently. Henry has rushed for 149+ yards in each of the last three games, averaging 7.29 yards per rush attempt in the process. To nobodies surprise, his team is 3-0 during that stretch.

That needs to slow down in the Black Hole.

Paul Guenther’s defense boasts the 9th best rush defense in the NFL, giving up just 4.0 yards per carry on the year. They’ll need to live up to every bit of that on Sunday, as the Titans are 6-0 when Henry rushes for 84+ yards and 1-5 when he doesn’t.

“The Quarterback Must Go Down, And He Must Go Down Hard”

The late Al Davis was right on the money with that quote.

The Raiders’ pass rush, or lack thereof, was a major talking point last season. Through 12 games, Oakland has more than doubled their sack total from all of 2018. A lot of the credit for the increase in production must go to defensive line coach Brenston Buckner, and his unit has a great opportunity to build on that against Tennessee.

While the Titans are 5-1 with Ryan Tannehill as the starting quarterback, he has been sacked 20 times in his six starts this season. His 12.0% sack rate is second-worst in the NFL, just behind Mariota at 13.6%. Just for context, Derek Carr’s sack rate is 4.7%.

Safe to say, Maxx Crosby and co. should be foaming at the mouth off the edge. Tannehill has also lost a fumble in each of the last three games, so hopefully the silver and black can take advantage of that and give their struggling offense a short field to work with once or twice.

#Raiders are 3-0 against the Titans in the Derek Carr era.



Comp%: 64.4

YPA: 8.1

YPG: 280.3

TD: 6

INT: 1 pic.twitter.com/5gngdHScLZ — Kris Wysong (@KrisWysong) December 3, 2019

Derek Carr, The Time Is Now

While the identity of the Raiders offense in 2019 is pounding the rock with rookie running back Josh Jacobs, it’s crucial for the 125-million dollar quarterback to get back on track with the playoffs on the line. I recently wrote about Carr’s struggles in December, especially on the road, but this is in Oakland and it’s a must-win situation.

If you want to be optimistic, the Titans have given up the 6th-most passing yards in the NFL this season (3,121). They’ve also given up the 7th-most first downs on pass attempts (161), so this Tennessee defense is susceptible to being attacked through the air.

The way Carr played from Week 4 to Week 11, when he completed over 71% of his passes, averaged 8.47 yards per pass attempt, had a 5.5 TD/INT ratio and a 110.5 QB rating, that’s the quarterback that Oakland needs right now.

The stage is set. Your move, DC.

PREDICTION: Raiders 23, Titans 20