By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND – Raiders starting quarterback Derek Carr and his sore thumb, are expected to be ready to go when the Baltimore Ravens visit O.co Coliseum Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PT, according to head coach Jack Del Rio.

“We anticipate that he’ll be ready to go,” Del Rio said after Wednesday’s according to CSNCalifornia.com Raiders Insider Scott Bair.

Carr has never missed a game at any level and questions have been mounting whether or not Carr will play in Week 2, but Carr sounded like someone who will be under center against Baltimore.

“I don’t play on it,” Carr said.

“It isn’t 100 percent, but it’s pretty close,” Carr said. “I’m not going to hurt our team and I’m not going to hurt myself further when it’s only the (second) week and go out there and make it worse. We all felt it was good enough; the coaches, training staff, the doctors, that I could go out there today.

“I went out there and took 99 percent of the reps. I think the one percent that I didn’t was just for them to be cautious and see how it reacted. It’s all fine. It felt good.”

Oakland (0-1) should look into adding another quarterback, behind Carr and backup, Matt McGloin. The Raiders are greatly fortunate that Carr’s injury isn’t serious enough to add another quarterback but, the pickings are slim. The team flirted with the idea of bringing back Christian Ponder, who was in training camp, but only if Carr was out for any extended period of time.

But Carr’s injury is just one of numerous injuries and issues facing Oakland as Baltimore (1-0) comes to town.

Both starting safeties Charles Woodson (shoulder) and Nate Allen (MCL) are hurt. Allen will be loss for the next eight weeks, while Woodson, who was originally slated to miss significant time, is holding out hope to play Sunday. Back up Larry Asante will most likely start in place of Allen.

“He’s a competitive guy,” Del Rio said of the 18-year safety. “You don’t play as long as he has with out being prideful and very competitive.”

“Guys can play with shoulder (issues), depending on the severity of it,” Del Rio said. “We’ll see how the week progress and whether or not he’ll be ready to go on Sunday.”

If Woodson doesn’t play, look for Oakland to start Taylor Mays, who was re-signed by the team on Monday. Mays was in training camp with Oakland.

Carr and the offense needs to put up a better effort than it did during their 33-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 1 at O.co Coliseum. Oakland managed just 246 yards total offensively and didn’t advance the ball past midfield until the fourth quarter when the game was out of reach.

Baltimore limited Denver to just 219 yards total offensively in the Broncos’ 19-13 Week 1 victory at Sports Authority Field over the Ravens.

Defensively? Oakland needs to generate more pressure on the quarterback.

Bengals starting quarterback Andy Dalton had all day to survey the field and throw the football. Dalton threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns as no one in a Silver & Black uniform barley got a hand on him the entire game.

That means linebackers Khalil Mack and recently signed Aldon Smith need to make more of an impact than their total four tackles (three by Mack) produced against Cincinnati.

The Ravens are going to look to get starting quarterback Joe Flacco (18-of-32, 117 passing yards, 2 INTs against Denver) back on track and Oakland’s suspect secondary could be what helps Flacco and his wide receivers. No Ravens wide receiver had more than 25 yards receiving against Denver.

Glued to the Tube: The Four Must See Games for Week 2 by #TheFootballJunkie

Denver at Kansas City – 5:25 p.m. PT, CBS/NFL Network  – Week 2 kicks off with a dandy between two bitter AFC West rivals in the Broncos and the Chiefs.

And of course, first place is on the line.

All the talk about the dramatic decline of Broncos (1-0) quarterback Peyton Manning  (last seven games have been dreadful, with averages of 6.45 yards per attempt, 59.8 completion rate, 6:7 TD-to-INT ratio and 75.0 passer rating), by far the worse stretch of Manning’s career. Manning is 6-0 against Kansas City while under center for Denver.

But the real talk has got to be Denver’s defense. With a slew of pass rushers in DeMarcus Ware, Von Miller, Danny Trevathan and Brandon Marshall, to go along with cornerbacks Aqib Talib and Chris Harris, Denver can make life difficult for Kansas City starting quarterback, Alex Smith and Co.

Talib won AFC Defensive Player of the Week for Week 1 with his unbelievable play, particularly on Ravens wide receiver Steve Smith. Smith was held to just two catches for thirteen yards, but it was the pick-six for Talib that was the difference maker for Denver in their home opener.

Kansas City (1-0) are coming off a 27-20 Week 1 victory at Houston. Smith threw for 243 yards and three touchdowns (two to tight end Travis Kelce). Kelcie finished with six catches for 106 yards receiving.

Kansas City has not thrown a touchdown to a wide receiver in 20 straight games.

Could Thursday night be different?

Broncos 23 Chiefs 27

New England at Buffalo – 10:00 a.m. PT, CBS – Both teams just don’t like each other.

Rex Ryan has re-energized the fan base in Buffalo and the Bills think this could be the year that they end New England’s dominance on the AFC East.

Buffalo’s (1-0) defensive line suffocated the Colts’ running game, holding starting running back Frank Gore to just 31 rushing yards on eight carries. Buffalo sacked and intercepted Indy’s starting quarterback Andrew Luck twice.

Bills starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor played really well, completing 14-of-19 passes for for 195 yards including a 51-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Percy Harvin in the first quarter of Buffalo’s 27-14 victory in Week 1.

The outcome of the game may come down to the play of Buffalo linebackers Nigel Bradham and Ronald Darby, particularly in matching up with New England tight end Rob Gronkowski. Gronkowski is a match up nightmare for defensive coordinators and Bills defensive coordinator Dennis Thurmond is going to have his hands full.

Gronkowski hauled in three of starting quarterback Tom Brady’s four touchdown passes in New England’s 28-21 victory last Thursday night over the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the 23rd game with four or more touchdowns, third all-time behind Brett Favre according to Elias Sports Bureau.

“Gronk”  finished with five catches for 95 yards, while Brady set a franchise record with 19 straight completions.

Patriots 24 Bills 17

Dallas at Philadelphia – 1:25 p.m. PT, FOX – The Cowboys (1-0) took out the New York Giants 27-26 on Sunday Night Football in Week 1, thanks to Cowboys starting quarterback Tony Romo’s game-winning touchdown to tight end Jason Witten but Dallas suffered a devastating blow when star wide receiver Dez Bryant broke a small bone in his foot.

Bryant, who signed a five-year, $70 million contract in the offseason, is vital for Dallas’ quest of hoisting a sixth Lombardi trophy, so the Cowboys are hoping that Bryant does return within the 4-6 weeks timetable, but reports are saying that Bryant could miss up to 10 weeks with the injury.

With Bryant down, Witten and wide receiver Terrance Williams will be the two pass catchers that Romo will lean heavily on. Dallas traded a sixth round pick to Oakland for wide receiver Brice Butler this week to add depth to the wide receiver position.

In 25 games with Oakland, Butler had 30 catches for 383 receiving yards and two touchdowns.

Philadelphia (0-1) lost a heart breaker in Atlanta on Monday Night Football, 26-24 where Falcons wide receiver Julio Jones ran a clinic in the art of route-running. Jones finished with nine catches for 141 receiving yards and two touchdowns as Atlanta picked on Philadelphia’s cornerbacks, most notably Byron Maxwell.

Philadelphia did force two Matt Ryan interceptions, but could’ve had four if the aforementioned Maxwell didn’t drop two potential interceptions. Maxwell finished with a team-high seven tackles against Atlanta.

Eagles starting quarterback Sam Bradford and the offense will need to get off to a better start against their NFC East rival. Against Atlanta, Philadelphia found themselves down 20-3 at half time before scoring 14 unanswered points to pull to 20-17.

Bradford completed 36-of-52 for 336 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in his first game in 19 months. Former Dallas running back DeMarco Murray , who signed five-year $40 million contract with Philadelphia, had a rough debut mustering just nine yards on eight carries, which included an 8-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.

Expect Murray to be involved more in the offense when Dallas invades Lincoln Financial Field Sunday.

Cowboys 23 Eagles 31

Seattle at Green Bay – 5:25 p.m. PT, NBC – Seattle is traveling to Green Bay in a NFC title game rematch on Sunday Night Football.

The Seahawks (0-1) came up short in St. Louis, 34-31, in overtime in Week 1 and knows that if they go down 0-2 with a loss in Green Bay, it will set the Pacific Northwest into a frenzy. Russell Wilson was sacked six times by a vastly improved Rams defense, and running back Marshawn Lynch was stopped on 4th-and-1 at the Rams’ 42 yard line to preserve the win.

But the No. 31 should be on the minds of Seattle. Not just because its the jersey number belonging to safety Kam Chancellor, but 31 was the number of points the Packers scored in their 31-23 victory over the Chicago Bears at Soldier Field, and it was the the total points Seattle scored against St. Louis.

The Packers, who squandered a 16-0 lead in their 28-22 NFC title game loss in overtime at Seattle, have been waiting to get their hands on Seattle since that disappointing Sunday in January.

Green Bay (1-0), who are playing without star wide receiver Jordy Nelson (ACL), saw starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers throw three touchdowns (two to wide receiver James Jones), while running back Eddie Lacy ran for 85 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown against Chicago.

Seahawks 17 Packers 27