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Tale of the tape

Week 7: Oakland Raiders Vs. Jacksonville Jaguars

Raiders

Jaguars

Carson Palmer looked comfortable throwing the football against the undefeated Atlanta Falcons. He threw for 353 yards in a hostile environment against an excellent team. He should be in a position to be even more productive against the struggling Jaguars.	Quarterback	The Jaguars are struggling to put together a cohesive offense. While Blaine Gabbert is young and has some physical tools, he is not giving the Jaguars many positive answers this season. He struggles to read defense, lacks accuracy when he throws the ball and does not give his receivers a great chance to catch the ball.
The Raiders should be ready to step up on the offensive end because they have an underrated running game led by Darren McFadden. He runs with toughness inside and he can get to the outside to break big plays. Wideout Denarius Moore is an explosive performer who gives Palmer a target who can take it the distance.	Offense	The best asset the Jaguars have is running back Maurice Jones-Drew. The Jaguars know it and so do all their opponents. That makes it very difficult for the Jaguars to feature him. However, they must get him the ball. Wide receiver Cecil Shorts is not a dominating receiver, but he can break into the open and make big plays by running through the defense.
The Raiders were impressive on the defensive end against the Falcons. They shut down the Atlanta running game and they made Matt Ryan work for every yard he gained. Linebacker Philip Seymour is coming off a 10-tackle effort against the Falcons. Defensive lineman Richard Seymour is still a destructive factor who must be accounted for on every play	Defense	The Jaguars have struggled on the defensive end, ranking 30th against the run and 24th in pass defense. Their pass defense probably would rank even lower if opponents didn’t find it so easy to run the ball. That’s not saying there isn’t talent on the defense, but so far the unit has not shown any cohesiveness. Linebackers Russell Allen and Paul Posluszny have combined for 90 tackles.
Sebastian Janikowski has been one of the most powerful kickers in the NFL throughout his career. He has not lost any of his leg strength. Shane Lechler averaged 48.2 yards per punt against the Falcons and is a solid weapon for the Raiders.	Special Teams	The Jaguars are not spectacular on special teams, but placekicker Josh Scobee has made 8-of-8 FG attempts and is dependable. Punter Bryan Anger is averaging 51.3 yards per punt this season.

The winner is

Raiders

3 out of 4

The Raiders pushed the undefeated Atlanta Falcons hard and they should be quite confident as they come home to face a struggling team. Carson Palmer has not had a lot of great moments in an Oakland uniform, but this could be one of them.

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