4 Reasons the Oakland Raiders can go undefeated in September
By Steve Rivera
Week 3: at Vikings
Week 3 at the Minnesota Vikings will have the Raiders away from the cozy confines of home for the first time in the 2019 NFL season. It also has them facing a team who was remarkably uneven last year.
The Vikings are a curious team. Even more curious is quarterback Kirk Cousins and his tendency to play to a baseline of mediocrity. Cousins, a quarterback capable of posting big numbers, still hasn’t shown the ability to play ”big” whenever a ”big” effort is required. In Minnesota, the Raiders will get a good taste of a player who can load up the statistical ledger, but not necessarily the win column.
Against the Vikings, Oakland will have the better quarterback on the field. In fact, in the first four games, Carr will be the better signal caller in at least half of those games. With a receiver like AB, the scales could tip in favor of the Raiders.
Oakland was an abysmal 1-7 on the road last season, beating only the lowly Arizona Cardinals 23-21. The Raiders have some tough road games coming up in 2019, but Minnesota isn’t one of them. This may also be the game where Oakland begins to establish what kind of team they are, and the kind of chemistry there is between Carr and Brown.