Category: NFL

Winless Raiders to host Baker Mayfield and the Browns in Week 4

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — With the first quarter of the season drawing to a close, the Oakland Raiders are in dire need of their first win…and they hope it’ll be versus the Cleveland Browns.

After playing two of their first three games of the season on the road, the Raiders return home to play two of their next three games beginning this Sunday when they will host the Browns and rookie quarterback Baker Mayfield at the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum.

Week 4’s matchup will mark only the second time since the Browns have traveled to the Black Hole and their most recent game, in 2015 at Cleveland, the Raiders defeated the Browns 27-20 at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. PT. The Browns are 12-10 all-time versus the Raiders in the regular season.

Last week, Oakland (0-3) lost to the first-place AFC East Miami Dolphins 28-20 in South Florida. Wide receiver Jordy Nelson had the biggest day for the Raiders, hauling in six catches for 173 yards (28.8 yards per catch) and a touchdown. In his last two meeting with the Dolphins, Nelson has destroyed Miami catching 15 passes for 280 yards (18.8 yards per catch) and two touchdowns.

Nelson became just the third Raider pass-catcher this season to top 100 yards in a game, joining tight end Jared Cook (180 yards against the Rams in Week 1), and fellow wide receiver Amari Cooper (116 yards against AFC West rival Denver in Week 2), making Oakland one of two teams to accomplish the feat.

Quarterback Derek Carr threw for 345 yards on 27-of-39 attempts with one touchdown and two interceptions. It was Carr’s second 300-yard passing day of the season (Carr threw for 303 yards against the Rams in Week 1). Through the first three games of the season, Carr is sixth in the NFL in passing yards per game (302) and second in completion percentage (76.6).

Oakland held a 17-7 lead midway through the third quarter before the Dolphins scored 21 unanswered points in the second-half to overtake the Raiders. Before kicker Mike Nugent booted a 52-yard field goal, the Raiders didn’t score a single point in the fourth quarter in their previous two games.

Speaking of Nugent, the Raiders placed Nugent on injured reserve with a hip injury and signed kicker Matt McCrane. McCrane is in his first year in the NFL after signing as an undrafted free agent with Arizona at the conclusion of the 2018 NFL Draft.

Strangely, the Raiders have led after three quarters in each of their previous three games but have yet to notch a win this season.

The Browns (1-1-1) are coming off 21-17 victory over the New York Jets in Cleveland on Thursday Night Football. Cleveland head coach Hue Jackson is just 2-32-1 as he enters his third season at the helm. Jackson, who spent 2010 as the Raiders’ offensive coordinator, was promoted to head coach in 2011 where he led the club to an 8-8 finish, but wasn’t retained as the team hired Dennis Allen heading into the 2012 season.

Allen finished 8-28 in his two-plus seasons in Oakland before being fired four games into the 2014 season as the team got off to a 1-10 start.

For Cleveland, quarterback Baker Mayfield will make his first-career NFL start when he leads the Browns into the Black Hole. Mayfield was selected first overall by the Browns in this year’s NFL Draft, but the Browns opted to start the season with Taylor under center and wanted Mayfield to watch and learn.

With Cleveland trailing 14-3 shortly before halftime, the rookie replaced veteran Tyrod Taylor, who was already playing poorly completing just 4-of-14 passes for 19 yards, when Taylor suffered his third concussion in the past 13 months.

In the second half, Mayfield energize that team and the home crowd, helping the Browns outscore the Jets 18-3. Mayfield threw for 201 yards on 17-of-23 attempts and even caught a two-point conversion from wide receiver Jarvis Landry that tied the game 14-14 in the third quarter.

Landry caught a game-high eight catches for 103 yards against the Jets, and leads the Browns with 20 catches for 278 yards. Rookie wide receiver Antonio Callaway has the Browns’ lone touchdown catch this season.

Running back Carlos Hyde rushed for 98 yards on 22 attempts and scored two touchdowns last week and given the Raiders inability to stop the run, (Oakland surrenders 116.3 yards on the ground per game, which ranks 22nd in the NFL), there could be some opportunities for Hyde to have another big game.

Defensively, Cleveland has some good, young players on that side of the ball that new defensive coordinator Gregg Williams can mold into a formidable group.

Second-year defensive end Myles Garrett has become one of the more feared pass rushers in the NFL. Garrett’s four sacks this season are tied for the most in the NFL with New Orleans defensive end Cameron Jordan, Chicago defensive end Khalil Mack (sorry Raider Nation), and Von Miller.

Garrett also has two forced fumbles.

Fellow defensive lineman in second-year defensive tackle Larry Ogunjobi is quickly making a name for himself too, pacing second on the Browns with three sacks.

Rookie cornerback Denzel Ward, who the Browns selected fourth in the same draft as Mayfield, has played great for Cleveland so far this season. In his first pro game, Ward intercepted Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger twice.

Ward leads the team with two interceptions and along with fellow cornerback Terrance Mitchell, has solidified Cleveland’s pass defense.

Following Sunday’s game, the Raiders heads south to Los Angeles for a tough matchup in the AFC West against the Chargers in Week 5 before flying to London to take on the Seattle Seahawks in Week 6, while Cleveland will head home to prepare for back-to-back visits from AFC North rival the Baltimore Ravens and Chargers.

Garoppolo’s season over, so the 49ers’ fate may be sealed

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By Jeremy Harness

With one attempted cut inbounds to try to gain a few more yards, the fate of the 49ers’ 2018 season appeared to be sealed.

The 49ers were trailing in the fourth quarter of the team’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs when quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo made that cut and then fell to the ground after his left knee buckled. He left the game and learned the next day that he had torn the ACL in that knee, effectively ending his season.

With that, the 49ers’ season may be over as well.

The second-biggest fear has also come to reality: C.J Beathard, the team’s second-year backup quarterback and has been far from awe-inspiring, is next up.

Expect the Los Angeles Chargers, who will host the 49ers at the StubHub Center on Sunday, to put heavy pressure on Beathard, who has shown a significant lack of accuracy in his brief career. He completed 55 percent of his throws last season and threw six interceptions against four touchdowns, amassing a lackluster passer rating of 69.2.

Of course, last season was just that, and it wouldn’t be so bad if he had shown any improvement, but that has yet to be seen.

He was out of shape for last year’s training camp, and he reportedly showed up in the same exact condition as the season before. Not exactly what you would want to see in your second-string signal-caller. That’s the reality that is staring the 49ers right in the face at this point.

To make matters worse, Beathard will not have any offensive stars to lean on. Jerick McKinnon, of course, is out for the season after tearing his own ACL in training camp. The team’s running game is headed by the duo of Alfred Morris, who didn’t even have a job when training camp opened this year, and Matt Breida, who provides a bit of quickness and catching ability out of the backfield but has otherwise been unimpressive in his young NFL career.

Meanwhile, the receiving corps has been less than stellar, as Pierre Garcon, who the 49ers had big expectations for when they brought him in prior to last season, has been practically nonexistent this season.

On the defensive side, cornerback Richard Sherman suffered a strained calf on Sunday, is expected to miss the next few weeks, while safeties Adrian Colbert and Jaquiski Tartt both missed practice with assorted injuries.

So basically, the 49ers will need to get healthy very quickly if they hope to be at least competitive for the remainder of the season.

Headline Sports podcast with London Marq: Who will win the AL MVP?; Ex-Raider Ball suffering aneurysm; Vikings’ Griffen asked to take mental evaluation

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On the Headline Sports podcast with London:

#1 In the American League MVP selection, it comes down to the Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout with .314, 38 HRs and 77 RBIs, and for the Boston Red Sox’s Mookie Betts .343, 32 HRs and 80 RBIs.

#2 Former Oakland Raiders linebacker Neiron Ball, who played for the team for only six games in 2015 and was also a former Florida Gator. Due to a knee injury, Ball left the Raiders in his brief NFL career suffered a brain aneurysm that ruptured on September 16th. Could head trauma play a role in brain aneurysms and other head injuries after a player has retired?

#3 Minnesota Vikings defensive end Everson Griffen was ordered by the Vikings to take a mental health evaluation after having an outburst at the team’s Minneapolis hotel last Saturday. He was heard screaming and yelling that he was going to shoot someone if they didn’t open the door to his room. Police were called and found that he had no weapon.

#4 Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said that the comparison of the 1998 Chicago Bulls to the 2018 Golden State Warriors is a huge difference. The ’98 Bulls had free agents that were going to leave the team and the 2018 Warriors have players that plan to stay and the top brass is going to work to keep the free agents.

#5 The New York Yankees look like they have a great shot at getting the AL Wild Card title. The Yankees lead the Oakland A’s by two full games and neither team have given up. Both A’s and Yankees still continue to win.

London does the Headline Sports each week and will host the next remote podcast at Il Fornaio in downtown Sacramento Mon Nov 5th at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Francisco 49ers podcast with David Zizmor: Garoppolo’s ex-girlfriend Instagrams “Karma” with smiling emoji on Instagram

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On the 49ers podcast with David:

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garappolo’s ex-girlfriend Alexandra King Instagrammed “Karma” with a smiling emoji face after Garoppolo’s injury on Sunday in Kansas City. King had previously posted photos of herself and Garoppolo together on her Instagram account, but took them down after Garappolo was photographed together with porn star Kiara Mia and to say the relationship with King is deep-sixed is an understatement. King also disabled her Instagram comments.

Also, Dave talks about how the Garoppolo injury will impact the 49ers for the rest of the season. Las Vegas had San Francisco with 30% odds to get to the postseason. With Garoppolo out the rest of the season with the torn ACL, those odds were dropped to 1%.

David Zizmor does the San Francisco 49ers podcasts each Tuesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Raiders’ halftime lead disappears once again in 28-20 loss to Dolphins

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By Jeremy Kahn

It seems that the Oakland Raiders just like playing in the first half and not in the second half of games…even when they knew about the Miami Dolphins in advance.

Once again, the Raiders went into the locker room at the end of the first half with the lead; however, the lead slipped away again for the third straight game.

Wide receiver Albert Wilson threw a 52-yard touchdown pass, and sealed the game with a 74-yard touchdown catch and the Dolphins came back from a 17-7 halftime deficit to defeat the Raiders 28-20 at Hard Rock Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

With the victory, the Dolphins improved to 3-0 for only the third time since the 1998 season and the Raiders are 0-3 out of the gate for the first time since the 2014 season, when they started the season 0-10.

Xavien Howard picked off two Derek Carr passes in Dolphins’ territory, who also came up with a huge goal line stop on fourth down that kept the Raiders out of the end zone in the second quarter.

Carr ended the day going 27-for-39 for 345 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions.

Jordy Nelson was the top wide receiver for Carr on the afternoon, as he caught six passes for 173 yards and a touchdown.

Through the first 10 minutes of the game, Nelson caught three passes for 139 yards, but could only catch four passes for 34 yards over the final 50 minutes.

Ryan Tannehill went 17-for-23 for 289 yards and three touchdowns and no turnovers for the undefeated Dolphins.

Tannehill also carried the ball three times for 26 yards, while former San Francisco 49ers running back Frank Gore was held to just 12 yards on six carries, as the Raiders rush defense held the Dolphins to just 41 yards rushing on 14 carries.

Marshawn Lynch led the Raiders in rushing with 64 yards on 19 carries and a touchdown, as he scored from one yard out to give the Raiders a 17-7 with 2:58 remaining in the third quarter

On their ensuing possession, the Dolphins drove right down the field and scored when Jakeem Grant caught a 18-yard touchdown pass from Tannehill to cut the Raiders lead down to three at the end of the third quarter.

Wilson gave the Dolphins the lead for good with 7:18 remaining in the game, as he took a toss from Gore, who got the ball from Tannehill and Wilson thru the ball to a wide-open Grant.

Carr then began to drive the Raiders down the field on what could have the game-winning drive, but Carr’s pass into the end zone was intercepted by Howard and then the Dolphins clinched the game with Wilson’s 74-yard touchdown reception that saw him and Grant high five each other down the sidelines on their way to the end zone.

NOTES: Donald Penn was forced to leave the game in the first half after suffering a concussion, and Karl Joseph missed the second half with a lower leg injury.

UP NEXT: After a two-road trip, the Raiders return to the Coliseum, where they will face the Cleveland Browns and former head coach Hue Jackson on September 30 at 1:05 pm PDT. The Browns are coming off their first win in 635 days after a 21-17 victory over the New York Jets on Thursday night at FirstEnergy Stadium.

Garoppolo Suffers Serious Injury in 49ers’ 38-27 Loss to Chiefs

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By Joe Lami

Unfortunately, the 38-27 beatdown to the Chiefs isn’t the biggest loss the 49ers took on Sunday, as Jimmy Garoppolo went down with what could be a season-ending knee injury.

Driving late in the fourth quarter, down by 35-24 and inside the red zone, Garoppolo cut his right near the sideline attempting to make more out of a scramble before his left knee buckled. Garoppolo made a collision with Chiefs’ corner, Steven Nelson on the play before he hobbled off the field.

The fear is that he suffered a torn left ACL. He is scheduled to have an MRI on Monday.

Garoppolo would exit the game on a crucial 4th and goal, leaving backup C.J. Beathard to make an incredible connection with George Kittle, only to be taken away by the team’s 13th penalty of the day. San Francisco would have to settle for a field goal while a cart rushed the 49ers’ franchise quarterback to the locker room.

The injury to Garoppolo came during a late comeback for the Niners. After going down 35-7 in the first half, where penalties, amazing plays by Patrick Mahomes, and a sluggish offense cost the Niners, San Francisco was pushing right back.

It was an abysmal first half of football for the Niners, in which they surrendered 35 points for just the eighth time in franchise history. Mahomes threw all three of his touchdowns in the first, pushing his season total to 13, while the 49ers nine penalties for 109 yards just added fuel to the fire for the first-year starter. The Chiefs finished the half with 22 first downs on their way to scoring a TD on all five drives.

The Niners lone first-half touchdown came on a beautiful play-action pass, where Garoppolo connected with Kyle Juszczyk on a wide-open play that would get the 49ers’ offense going.

Jimmy G continued the pushback in the second half finding Goodwin for his first touchdown of the season. Alfred Morris found paydirt on a three-yard scamper, bringing the Niners within 11.

All was going well for the Niners in the second half until Garoppolo went down. Early reports suggest it’s dire, making Sunday’s nightmare turn into San Francisco’s doomsday.

To make matters worse, Richard Sherman also went down on Sunday with a calf injury in the second quarter. He was listed as questionable to return, but the hobbling Sherman never got off the sideline.

The season is now in the balance for San Francisco and what was supposed to be a building year for the Niners may have ended before it ever really got going as the 49ers’ rebuild may have just been reset to zero.

Oakland Raiders podcast with Joe Hawkes Beamon: Raiders need to button down the hatches on defense; Carr can beat the Dolphins

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On the Raiders podcast with J Hawkes:

#1 The Raiders continue their road trip. This time, Week 3 brings them to Miami as they come off a razor edge loss in Denver last Sunday 20-19.

#2 Last season in Week 9, both the Raiders and Dolphins played to a 27-24 Raiders win when Marshawn Lynch carried a three-yard, fourth quarter touchdown for the win.

#3 The Raiders lost on a game-winning field goal after leading the Broncos by as much as 17 points. Broncos quarterback Casey Keenum helped the Broncos’ down field to set up a score.

#4 After Khalil Mack went to Chicago, the Raiders’ defense has been suspect and that was evident after dropping the 17 points in the second half of Sunday’s game.

#5 The Raiders now face the Miami Dolphins (2-0) with quarterback Ryan Tannehill, whose 31-57 for 398 yards. Joe takes a look at these two teams matching up.

Joe does the Raiders podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Fantasy Football Doctors NFL Week 3: Who to Start & Sit this week!

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

ff cartoon

Your hosts: Dr. Vasu Vaddiparty & Dr. Charlie O

  • Should you start Carson Wentz in his first week back?

  • Is Ryan Fitzpatrick worth gambling on again this week?

  • What about Aaron Rodgers – is it time to sit him on the bench?

  • Will Giovani Bernard save the Bengals?

  • Why isn’t Matt Breida in your starting lineup?

  • Is this the week Marshawn comes alive for the Raiders?

  • Beware of LeSean McCoy

  • Remember the three G’s: Golladay, Garcon & Godwin

  • Josh Gordon – REALLY?

  • Charlie O hates Travis Kelce — find out why!

The answers to these questions and many more on this week’s edition of the Fantasy Football Doctors.

Questions or comments? Twitter: @VPSports

NFL Week 3 Thursday night Fantasy Football written prescription

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

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By Dr. Vasu Vaddiparty

Week 3 of the NFL Season has either let some fantasy football players down or pumped them up. It was an interesting week 2 between the juggernaut Kansas City Chiefs to the almost in need of an early season blood transfusion of the Buffalo Bills. One quick note for both fantasy football players and football fans;

In the last 20 years or so if a team starts their season at 0-2, the chances of them making the playoffs is right around the 30% mark. So hopefully your favorite has at least gone 1-1 to give you a shot at the playoffs.

Those numbers don’t apply to fantasy football as most leagues go head to head. One good week and you’re extending your lead, or getting your team right back in the mix. One bad week and you either fall in with the rest of the herd or are already looking up at everyone looking for the rope to be sent down to pull you up.

With that being said let’s hit a written prescription for the Week 3 matchup in Cleveland between the New York Jets and the Cleveland Browns.

Jets
Jets, Jets, Jets are what all were screaming on the opening Monday night in Detroit where the savior Sam Darnold put up unreal numbers against a bad Detroit defense in a rout and last week at their home opener did not get the same production out Darnold or the running game in a loss to the suddenly hot Miami Dolphins who are in 1st place in the AFC East.

QB
Darnold may not be a good play here. He is still learning the nuances of the game and while the Detroit game has everyone salivating at potential he’s still learning and there is tape now. Cleveland’s defense is pretty good so far in the two weeks played. 6 TO’s and a plus 5 rating against Pittsburgh that only resulted in a tie (broke their losing street), and in week 2 that defense shutting down the Saints with Drew Brees and his arsenal. The Browns would be 2-0 if they had a kicker. Defense is really good, and I would stay away from Darnold this week.

RB
The Jets running game has been pretty effective but again the hot play in week 1 did not translate in week 2. Bilal Powell is a good running back and could be effective but I don’t see him as #1 or #2 back this week. Isiah Crowell is the lead back for the Jets and he is playing against his old team in Cleveland. He has two weeks of decent play but I can’t see Cleveland giving up too many yards on the ground. The lineman and LB’s are playing better than most thought and should be able to contain and maybe bottle up the running game. Unless you have no one else to use, I would stay away from the RB’s for the Jets

WR / TE
Here it gets interesting because the wideouts are pretty solid. The secondary of the Browns has been ok but then again they’ve faced Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees in the first two weeks; future HOF’ers. While everyone is jumping on the Darnold bandwagon he’s not close and won’t be for awhile. The law firm of Enunwa, Pryor, and Anderson don’t strike a lot of fear and will have a tough time esp on the road to get Darnold the help he needs tonight.

Browns
QB
Tyrod Taylor is an enigma. He is the only QB on the Browns that has experience. Everyone wants to see Baker Mayfield the overall number 1 pick. Through no fault of his own, the Browns should be 2-0 and in 1st in the AFC North (what is this unicorn I speak of?) Kickers will win you games and will lose you games as well as coaches and players getting fired. Taylor has played well but he doesn’t have the big time numbers that Fantasy Football players like. He will be effective and may have a TD or two but they don’t score a lot of points. They got 21 v Pittsburgh. They scored 18 vs. the Saints. For 2.5 to 3 quarters they played well and Taylor played well. Like we say every week on the podcast, if you have other options that you believe could get you more points I would suggest going that route. Or this could be the week they are so close and at home on Thursday night to have a breakout and finally end their streak of not have a 0 in the win column. Taylor for my money gets a 1.5 rating tonight as starter. Not everyone has Brady, Brees, Rodgers so you have to pick and choose where to go. But I like Taylor more than I would Darnold tonight.

RB
Carlos Hyde has been the most effective running back in the Browns’ system this season. He has found new life with the Browns. They also have the likes of Nick Chubb and Duke Johnson. But this is Hyde’s show. I would use him if no other options are available because I believe that the Browns can run on the Jets defense. The Jets have given up some yards to both Miami and Detroit in the first two weeks so I think the Browns can get their yards and Hyde is the stalwart for it.

WR / TE
The spot to take a receiver with the Browns lies with the TE David Njoku. He is a big, fast, great hands TE that showed off his skills during the preseason and was very effective against Pittsburgh. He was a little lacking vs the Saints mostly because they had the lead going to the 4th quarter and were running effectively. Antonio Callaway is the team’s best WR with Jarvis Landry hurting a little. Callaway with 3 catches for 81 yards last week could have a big game vs. the Jets secondary. He is another option for a fantasy player to get some yards’ vs a Jets team who is still a little suspect on defense and primarily in the secondary.

Special Teams/ Defense
Both teams defenses have played pretty well but based on the fact that the Browns have had the propensity to get TO’s and make a rookie QB get frazzled the Browns defense may not be a bad play tonight for your Special Teams / Defense tonight.

Overall Matchup
The game itself is a matchup of the top two QB’s drafted in Sam Darnold and Baker Mayfield. There is no doubt that since every team has to be on Thursday night that NFL powers to be wanted the potential of a Darnold/ Mayfield matchup in primetime. It’s not going to happen unless something happens to Taylor where he gets injured and cannot continue.

With all being said about the Browns defense and no one on offense that scares you plus Darnold still learning on the job one would assume that I would lean the Browns way.

The line is Browns -3 with a total of 41 points. I am slightly leaning towards the Jets in a small upset and a low scoring game. I just don’t see both offenses doing great vs. the other defenses so I believe it will be a low scoring game.

16-14 Jets in a small upset.

Don’t forget to listen to our Fantasy Football Doctors podcast with Dr. Charlie O. Mallonee and myself Dr. Vasu Vaddiparty on SportsServiceRadio.com for the rest of the NFL as it relates to Fantasy Football.

Any correspondence you may have can be sent to my Twitter account @VPartySports or directly to Sports Radio Service.

Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Raiders couldn’t seal the deal in Denver Sunday; look to Miami for first road win

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On the Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony:

#1 For the last six seconds of Sunday’s game in Oakland, the Oakland Raiders looked as if they had game in hand with a 19-17 lead, but Denver Broncos kicker Brandon McManus kicked a 36-yard field goal for the 20-19 win at Sports Authority Field.

#2 The Broncos led by quarterback Casey Kennum led the Broncos down the field with just 1:58 left in the game, Kennum threw to Tom Patrick for 26 yards in the closing moments of the game to get the ball and McManus into field goal range for the winning score.

#3 Tony talks about some of the numbers starting for Raiders quarterback Derek Carr going 29-32 for 288 yards, one touchdown and one sack. Impressive outing for Carr who did all he could do to win in the Raiders’ first road game.

#4 Wide receiver Amari Cooper tallied up some yards with 10 receptions for 116 yards. Although Cooper didn’t get a touchdown, he averaged 11 yards and topped the team for total yards.

#5 The Raiders get set for their next meeting against the Miami Dolphins, the Dolphins are 2-0 and have Ryan Tannehill, who’s averaging 199 yards with four touchdowns on the year. Tannehill and the Dolphins have been fierce. Will the Raiders defense have their hands full this Sunday? Tony takes a look.

Tony does the Oakland Raiders podcasts each Thursday and is a beat writer for the Sacramento Kings at http://www.sportsradioservice.com