Oakland Raiders: 3 Bold predictions vs. Vikings in Week 3
By Steve Rivera
2. Cousins struggles with Raiders defense
While Mahomes and the Kansas City offense lit up the scoreboard in Week 2 against the Oakland Raiders, don’t expect the same from Minnesota in Week 3. In the most simple of terms, Kirk Cousins is no Patrick Mahomes — and the Raiders will exploit that.
Anyone who has seen Mahomes understands the almost magician like qualities he has in his game. For the Vikings, Cousins has no such qualities. Against the Green Bay Packers, Cousins had a decent game on the box score but that’s pretty much where it ends. He’s always struggled with consistency and finding ways to win football games.
He’s also prone to turnovers, having coughed up two interceptions against the Packers. Look for turnovers to play a role when the Raiders defense gets pressure on Cousins and ultimately multiple sacks.
What Raiders fans saw in Week 2 will ultimately prove an outlier. Without fail, Kansas City is playing at a different level with a quarterback who might be in that rarified air that someone like Tom Brady operates in. Against Minnesota, Oakland will not face a team or quarterback like what they saw with the Chiefs.
Cousins just isn’t that good and neither is Minnesota. That bodes well for a Raiders win.