3. Show up

The real key to victory for the Raiders is for them to not take the day off and let an awful Bengals team have life early in the game. They are obviously the better team in this matchup on both sides of the ball, and the only way they can lose this game is if they beat themselves.

Every 1-7 NFL team won in Week 10 with the Atlanta Falcons surprising the New Orleans Saints on the road. The Raiders do not want to duplicate this outcome and have to treat the Bengals like they are a playoff opponent and not come into the game overconfident, expecting to win. It will be hard for the Raiders to recover if they mess around and let this one slip away.

The Raiders have performed well against mediocre teams this year but don’t have an impressive win by more than a one-score margin. For the Raiders to prove, they are a playoff team, they have to treat the Bengals like the Ravens did the week before. Pedal to the metal for the Raiders and lay it all out with a decisive win against a weak opponent.

[lawrence-newsletter]