You Can't Lose or You're Lost: Texans Preview

The Raiders are preparing to face the Houston Texans in a game that they see as a statement opportunity. The Raiders feel that their record does not reflect their true ability as a team and believe that a dominant win against the Texans would show their true potential. The Texans offense has been relying heavily on their running game, but the Raiders defense has been strong against the run recently. They plan to shut down the Texans' top weapon, wide receiver Brandon Cooks, and limit their scoring. On the offensive side, the Raiders may be without tight end Darren Waller, but they have other weapons in Foster Moreau and Josh Jacobs, who has been performing well in recent games. The Raiders aim to establish a balanced offense and control the game against the Texans' defense. They see this as a must-win game and an opportunity to make a statement. What we do here is go back, back, back, back, back, back, back. They're plus one, they're on the dog. They're on the dog, they're on the road, and they're the dogs. Give it to them. Welcome back to another edition of the Raider Take Podcast. I am Micah McDonald. With me, back at it again, is Andrew McDonald. Yeah, we had a bye week. You know, it's always a great week when you don't lose. Coming off the Chiefs loss and going into facing the Texans, a lot to talk about. Before we do so, Andrew, how are you? How was your quick little trip to Austin? It was fine, man. It was nice. I'm well, by the way. Yeah, it was a good trip. Obviously, unfortunate to my first day out there, witness the Raiders-Chiefs Monday night debacle. But I'll get to that in a little bit. But no, I'm good, man. You know, the bye week, I think it was a good reset for me mentally, emotionally, physically, probably, just to be able to see how everything else, what a normal Sunday goes when you don't have the stress of a Raiders game. So that was nice, but excited to be back. Texans week, here we go. I'm ready for it. But I know I didn't get a podcast out or I guess my thoughts, you know, and you had asked if I don't mind sharing. But, you know, we are past this game, the Raiders-Chiefs, but just a few things that just want to get off my chest. Number one is I was very surprised that we were in that game in general. So 17-0, I'm like, this isn't reality at all. Two is once Chandler – sorry, not Chandler – Chris Jones roughed Derek Carr, you know, strip sack, fumble, Chiefs recover, roughed Derek Carr. I literally said I would have rathered them take the ball, no penalty, because this is when the game changes. And that's all the Chiefs needed really was to get back in the game with that. So not to say that I called it, but it was just one of those in-the-moment feelings. I wanted you guys to get an idea of kind of where I was at current state. So all in all, yeah, it was a frustrating game. You know, we were 1-3 at the time going into it, and on the road at Arrowhead, not a place that we usually succeed. And so one of those things where we're like, wow, I can't believe we're here. And then I think that as you saw as the game went, you know, the Raiders players were also feeling the same thing, where they're like, not sure how we're here, but here we go. But Mahomes did his thing, obviously Travis Kelsey, 25 yards, four touchdowns is a pretty standard stat. So that was interesting. But, no, I mean, I think they played well. Obviously it sucks to lose Nate Hobbs during that game with a broken hand, something that we'll get into him going on the IR this week. But, yeah, it was one of those losses that you're like, man, I don't know if I'd rather lose by 1 or 40 at this point, you know, because it hurts the same. But, yeah, there was a lot of good. Obviously Josh Jacobs kept his thing rolling. I think you saw our defense play relatively well, you know, obviously started getting a little bit lax towards the end of the game and loosening up. And Mahomes is Mahomes, so it's really can't stop the guy. You just got to hope to contain him in that sense. But, yeah, it was what it was. I appreciate you letting me get some time here to get my thoughts out. But I have probably talked to myself and others 400 times since that game, and I'm ready to move on to the Texans. How about yourself, my friend? Well, I was kind of in the same thought process as you, and I was kind of explaining what happened with that Chris Jones thing to Bonnie. And I was like, this is also probably where this karma comes back to screw us, because that was just too good of a call to go our way for it to not come back around on us. So, I mean, I kind of said all I needed to say already, so I'm glad we were able to get to your thoughts on that and whatnot. But, yeah, we're on to Texas. We're on to Houston. We're on to the Texans. The Legion Stadium, though, in particular, before we get into that, or Cincinnati. I was going to say we're not on to Texas. Yeah, we're not going to Cincinnati. We're going to the Texans. Yes. I mean, we'd be on to Houston, I believe. But we digress. Anyways, yeah, it's, you know, moving on. We've got the bye week. We got to recharge a little bit, so here we go. We will preview that game shortly. Before we do, we are going to do the RTP betting section of this podcast. And before we do that, Micah, will you please tell the folks and the fans and all those Texans who this episode is brought to them by? Absolutely. I'm actually going to paint a picture for you today, Andy, and all the fans out there. Imagine Daniel Carlson lining up for an onside kick. All right, we saw him do this once, right? It's actually a very good kick. I was very surprised. You know, the chances of that, of us regaining possessions, are very slim. The stakes are high and the tension is higher. Your pulse? Racing. He kicks it, and you watch as the ball lands. Well, now you can make every play feel this exciting with DraftKings Sportsbook, an official sports betting partner of the NFL, and their unbeatable offers. Right now, new customers can make any $5 NFL bet and get $200 in free bets if your team wins. Check this out. In addition to the usual bets, everyone can boost their winnings with DraftKings' stepped-up same-game parlays. So with the Raiders going into the Texans here, they're going to be favored. But, you know, as we talk about it, we're going to get into it a little bit more. But this, I think this can be a very, very big statement game. So no matter what the line is on this game, take the over and take the Raiders to cover. And when you do do that, you can make things even sweeter because you can throw down on stepped-up same-game parlays once per game day, all season long. Download the DraftKings Sportsbook app now and use promo code TPPN to get $200 in free bets if your team wins. Just place a $5 bet on any football game only at DraftKings Sportsbook using code TPPN. Minimum age and eligibility restrictions apply. See show notes for details. Sounds good. Well, let's move into the RTP betting podcast segment here. Once again, these bets, these picks, these analyzations are actually specifically from the RTP podcast. We both are owed our proper congrats when we get it right. And when we get it wrong, please blame Micah. So anyways, as we go on, just like usual, I know it's been a little bit, apologize for the delay, team. But we're going to get into the RTP three-game parlay. So once again, this is a parlay that you have to include all three of these games. They're just money lines, so they're pick-ems. But where I would like to start is, coming back again, the Bengals. Come on, guys. You got this, right? Cincinnati Bengals over the Falcons. Coming back to my peeves, I just can't shake them. I can't not love them, honestly. Falcons did take care of business against the 49ers at home. Last week, I thought that was a great, well-executed game. But ultimately, you have the Bengals at home. You have the Atlanta Falcons, who really just want to play a certain style of game, where it's just a lot of running, controlling the clock. Marcus Mignola is going to keep it once in a while. Throw the ball 12 times a game. Kind of one of those things where I do think that is obviously an opposite against how the Bengals do like to get down, as far as their offense is concerned. But where I will see a big opportunity for the Bengals is really their defense has come on more so recently. So I think they slow that down. I think the Falcons don't have the firepower to keep up with the Bengals, and this is something that at home, they're going to take it to them. I think we're going to be fine. We're going to take the Bengals at home over the Falcons. Moving on. Tom, Thomas, Sir Thomas Brady, please, my man. I know the year's been tough. Giselle, not sure what's going on there. You went to Robert Kraft's wedding. Hope that was a good time. You also got something done with your face. Not sure what's going on there, dude, but been a tough season. Your team's not where you're supposed to be, but you can take care of the Panthers, I can assure you. You want to know why, I can assure you, is because Robbie Anderson basically quit on the sidelines for the Panthers last week. So there's that, right? So that's kind of where the team is. I think it won't be that easy, as far as their defense is concerned. Carolina brings a good defense, but please, this is a get-right game for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Take the Bengals, take the Buccaneers over the Panthers. They both aren't playing the Panthers. Bengals over the Falcons, Buccaneers over the Panthers, and to cap off the third game of this parlay, give me the Ravens over the Browns for every reason that everyone can imagine. The Ravens have lost recently, shouldn't have, certainly against the Giants. Now they take on the Cleveland Browns, who once were a team that was inspiring. They were doing so great without Deshaun Watson. Wow. And then they just slay an egg against the Jets, against the Patriots. They got smoked at home against the Patriots. Give me the Ravens over the Browns. So to recap, we're going to go Bengals over the Falcons. We're going to go Bucs over the Falcons. Sorry, Bengals over the Falcons, Bucs over the Panthers, Ravens over the Browns. Thank you so much. Appreciate the patience. That's a three-game parlay. Lock it in, once again. If it is wrong, please direct all of your negative vibes towards Micah, mostly me. This is all my fault. But moving on, the underdog of the week. I keep looking at my notes, and I'm like, which ones have I, like, been on? And I'm like, it's very consistent. So if you're wondering, theoretically, if I could legally bet in California if I was up or down, I'm right in the middle because I keep splitting hairs here. The New York Jets are dogs against the Broncos. Come on, guys. Against the Broncos? Have you seen the last primetime games? Monday Night Football against Chargers, no one wanted to win. The Broncos were finally like, hey, how about this? We're going to have our punter turner just drop it. Kick a field goal, let's be done with this. And then before, against Colt, they're like, Russ is like, I've seen this before. We're not going to give it to Marshawn. I'm going to look off KJ Hamler and just throw right to Courtland Sutton. Pick. The Broncos are terrible. Mike called them frauds a long time ago, guys. OK, let's move on. The Jets are dogs. They're on the road, sure. Robert Shaw has got this team going. I think this is a no-brainer. I would take the Jets. My's two and a half. Maybe my's three and a half. They're plus one. They're on the dog. They're on the dog. They're on the road. And they're the dogs. Come on, son. Come on. OK? Take my Jets. I just keep riding with the Jets, but they're fun, too. Don't let them get hot. Last thing, lock of the week. Now, I have gone with underdog as far as covering a certain spread, which, if anyone remembers, I did take the Jets plus six and a half against the Dolphins. They ended up beating them by 20-plus. So I've also taken a money favorite. Not a money favorite. A line favorite. So someone that is giving points because they're favored in that game. We're not going to go either of those, my fairly RTP betting friends. We're going to go tonight because tonight we ride with Saints Cardinals 43 and a half over under. What? What? OK? Saints defense, usually good. No Marshall Latimore. Guess who's coming back? Deshaun Watkins. Hopefully not. Deshaun Hopkins. I said Watkins. I combined the two. Deshaun, go ahead. DeAndre is coming back. Yes. That's what I was going to say. It's not Deshaun Watkins. I'm going to go too fast. The Saints do not have Marshall Latimore. That is a positive because DeAndre Hopkins is back from suspension. That is how you say it. So 43 and a half is not a ton of points. It's Thursday night. They've been multiple stinkers. OK? We had the Bears commanders last week. Week prior, we had the Colts, Broncos. Guys, give us some points. It's Thursday night. Apparently, you have to be subscribed to Amazon Prime to even watch the game. Give us some points. 44. That's all we've got to get. That's 2420. What? OK? That's 2720 also. OK? That's also 2123 if you're keeping track at home. So 43 and a half. Hammer that over. It's going to happen. It's going to go down. Meme me out the fog. It's going down. OK? We're going to hit the over on this. OK? Once again, I've done the points on the underdog. I've done the points in the favor. We're going to hit an over on it for you guys. The block of the week is Saints Cardinals, 43 and a half. Put it on the board. Might be wrong. Anyways, that's it. Sorry. That's fantastic. For some reason, that segment just gets me fired up. I know. And I forget people's names. And it's, you know. Yeah, well, that's why I prefer just waiting to the end, not chiming in, not doing nothing, because you just get going. And it's fantastic. I will say, I think we just need to pencil in the Bengals and the Jets somewhere in your weekly agenda. They're going to be there. It doesn't matter. Don't really know where they're going to be at, but they're going to be in there somewhere. And you've essentially got five games, unless you're, you know, picking some doubles. Also, too, the Broncos are either going to be rolling without Russell Wilson or with a super injured Russell Wilson. I don't know what's worse, but the fact that the Jets are dogs to a possibly Russell Wilson-less Broncos team, insane. Thank you. Yeah, I clearly have my favorites that I lean towards. But, you know, the parlays are interesting. And we don't need to dive into this too much. But it's like there are ones that are just like they're layups, right? But just as everyone knows, week three to week six, basically, it's like you don't know. And teams just show up like the Falcons beat the Niners by two touchdowns, right? So good thing I didn't make a prediction last week. We are to be betting didn't make a prediction because we probably would have wrote the Niners on that one. But anyway, moving on to the preview. All good. All good. All right. So it is week seven, I believe. We are week seven. And the Raiders are hosting the Houston Texans currently the Raiders Las Vegas Raiders are seven point favorites over under is 45 and a half. My kid is going to take the Raiders defense versus the Texans offense. I'm going to take the Raiders offense against the Texans defense. My kid, shall you start? Yeah, I can start us off. You have to say I shall. I shall. I shall start us off. Thank you. Yes, of course. Yeah. So as I alluded to earlier, I think this is going to be kind of needs to be a I'm not even going to say get right game. I'm going to call it a statement game, because, as I also said, I truly feel like our record does not reflect how good of a team we are. And one thing that good teams do, they blow out bad teams. Right. They go up and they stay up and they win games by lots of points. So I think we really need to do that this week. I think that with the way that our defense has been playing, we have a good chance to do that this week against this offense. That is seems to be kind of somewhat a one trick pony as of lately. And that has really been in the running game. Rookie Damian Pierce has kind of come into his own these last few weeks. You got quarterback Davis Mills, who is the ultimate game manager, I guess. He's not going to he's not going to out throw you. He's not going to do anything, you know, to wow you. And he also has been making mistakes. I think he has like six interceptions on the year and four touchdowns, I think. So he's looking great so far. But like I said, the run game has really been what has given them some success this year so far. And the run game has been what our defense has done the best at. Max Crosby, Devine Diablo, both have just been tackle monsters, really just helping that run defense, you know, play well. And when it comes to the passing game, most teams have been able to have a great success against their offense when they've been able to just shut down Brandon Cooks, because he seems to be kind of the only weapon for the most part that they have out there. You know, we don't have Nate Hobbs, as you said. Nate Hobbs actually went on the IR. He's going to be out four to six weeks. So that's awesome. But Rocky Finn has played really well and been kind of been that guy when we needed him to be. And I think they are going to probably make him play Cooks, tell him to one-on-one, shut him down, win those battles, and then go from there. So I think we have a really good matchup if we can continue to play well in the run game. So I wholeheartedly expect to go out there, hold this team under 20 points, and hopefully have one of those games where we can see, at least on the defensive side of the ball, them play great defense for four quarters. So, yeah, I think if we can shut down the run game, which has been our best attribute lately, that we can go out here and shut this offense down for the most part. So that is where I'm at. Not a whole lot to say. But I'm out there. Stop Damon Pierce. Stop Brandon Cooks. Game blouses, in my opinion. Yeah, I love it. I mean, we're in a vulnerable spot, right? Let's just call it what it is. I had one of my buddies reach out to me who is not a Raiders fan. He said, hey, man, I'm in Survivor League, and I have the – I want to pick the Raiders. I can also pick the Patriots, the Bucs. I think that's what it is. He's like, how good do you feel about the Raiders this week? I'm like, man, listen, we can't really lose or else we're lost kind of thing. Like, we just can't afford it. And I'm like, I would never – because people have asked me this before. Like, hey, what do you think here? I'm like, I don't know if I would bet the Raiders because that's truly how I feel. I was just like, hey, man, I'm very confident that we are going to win because I don't know if we have any other choice. And if it doesn't happen, then we just might – it just might explode. And so that's kind of where I'm at. I didn't need to tell that story, but that's kind of just how I'm feeling currently. Because I agree with everything you're saying. It's like, hey, let's just take care of business. This is similar – like a similar feeling to the Broncos game that we had where it was just like, man, we just need to dominate. Obviously, the Broncos at the time were more talented than the Texans that we were facing. But one of those things where they came out, they dominated all four quarters for the most part, took our business. They made it fun like they usually do, but it felt like the most complete game that they played outside of actually Kansas City this most recent week. So this is a game that, you know, it's just we have – we got to win. I'm like, here's some creative analytics for you. Here's some deep strategies. Like, we just need to beat these guys because it sucks right now. But if we're going to get into that side of the business, which I am responsible for, we are going to take the Raiders' offense against the Houston Texans' defense. And so at first, I'm just going to look at it where, you know, we don't know if we're going to have Waller. We might not have him. It's more so looking like that he is out. He was out the back half of the Kansas City game. He is probably going to be out for this Texans game, which is fine. Foster Murrow is back, which will be good. Could see a prototypical Foster Murrow game where he's a feature tight end. And then really we've got to keep leaning on Josh Jacobs, you know, really because I think with his – what he brings to this offense, obviously, you know, going for a buck four to the last couple games is great. But really it's the balance, right? It's the balance where we're not throwing 40, 45 times a game like we were doing kind of in the first couple games of the year against, you know, the Chargers getting into the Titans game too. So I think this is something that we've got to lean on Jacobs. We've got to be able to take the shots where we can. But honestly, I think we just need to really keep our foot on the gas pedal because this is a tough and then stingy Texans defense. So they honestly are actually relatively good as far as like red zone defense. And last time you checked, we are not great in the red zone as an offense. So something that we're going to have to really account for. But this is an opportunity for the Raiders in winning this game and going two and four, being like, hey, we're awesome. I don't think that necessarily is the case, but I think it's one of those things where it's like we're not this team, right? And I think with a healthy dose of Jacobs, I think you let Carr get in his rhythm. I think the defense even, I know that was more so your section, but no Nate Hobbs. I think we're going to be okay. I think Nick Robertson, like you mentioned, is going to take care of Brandon Cooks. And I think this is a team that we really should go out and just establish our dominance on and just say, hey, this is the team that we are. We have really a favorable schedule coming up in the next four to five games. So I think this offense needs to be able to establish a run like they did against the Chiefs, like we did against the Broncos as well. So just one of those, one of these games where we really just need to come out and be able to feed Jacobs. We've got to work off play action. So no Darren Waller, Guff Osamoro. I know Hunter Renfroe, at least what I saw today, he was out of practice. Hopefully it's not concussion related or anything like that. But I think regardless, this is a team that we're going to outmatch on both sides of the ball. We've got to take care of business. And really I think we are going to – this isn't a game to do it, but we are going to evolve into a team that we're going to have to score 25 plus every game. Okay. Our defense is good, but that's it, right? We lose one of the more important players on our defense for the next four weeks. So Chandler Jones has got to get going. Max Crosby obviously has been there all year. But this isn't a strong defense that we have, so I think we need to start fast. We need to be able to start aggressive with our offense. And I think we're going to get into these matches and end up with an identity where it's like we're going to live and die by beating a shootout. And I think we have the weapons and the firepower to do so. Ultimately, I think we come out on top. I will wait before my prediction. But it's not – once again, not great analysis as far as like how we match up against the Texans. But I think ultimately this is just a game that we've got to take care of business in. I certainly hope we do so. It looks like Renfro has got a hip thing going on. So we'll see what happens with Friday's practice. But I agree. I think that you can't lose or you're lost is a great tagline for this week. I feel like we have a lot of games during this stretch. I talked about it before, but a lot of very winnable games. I feel like they all may be somewhat in that realm of you can't really lose. We might have to get lost in draft prospects. So we shall see. But, yes, we can get on to some predictions here. Yeah, I mean, I guess the only thing about that is like all I'm saying is like this is a game at home after a bye week that we – the most favorable game of the next six. Now, here are the next six. Houston, obviously what we're previewing at home. We go to New Orleans, who are very beautiful. We go to Jacksonville, very beautiful. The Colts at home, they've been whatever. We've got the Broncos in mile high, which we took care of business at home and they're even worse since we've seen them. And then we have Seattle away. Those are six games that we could really be sitting here at five – or, sorry, seven and four technically. Seven and four, I mean, like we're in a shot to what seed are we going to have in the playoffs? But if we lose to the Texans, if we lose – like if you can't lose because if you lose, then everything is just loss. That's more so what I was trying to say, which I think I basically said. But this is – we just can't afford it. I can't afford it, certainly, but let's move on to predictions. Micah, Raiders minus seven, take home the Texans over under 45.5. What is your prediction for this week, sir? Yeah, I think that we are going to go out there, handle business. Like I said, I am going to predict that we are not – we're going to keep them under 20 points. So I am going to go with a prediction of Raiders 28, Texans 17. Love it. Very similar to mine, I am going to go Raiders 31, Texans 20. I think they get a couple of cheap touchdowns. Here's some field rules, but we take care of business. Offense scores 30 plus. We're going to do this thing. I'm trying to be the most optimistic right now. Fellas, gals, guys, everyone involved, trying to be my best, but like man, it just – it makes me nervous. It makes me nervous because I'm like less nervous going against the Chiefs because I'm like my expectations are low. But this is a game we're going to win. We're going to take care of business. It's either going to be 31 to 20 or it's going to be 28 to 17. Heard it here first, Raiders Take Podcast. Any closing thoughts, my friend, my brother? Nope. I think that's it. I'm glad to be back on the pod with you again. Got to go out here and get a W, so we will see what happens on Sunday. As always, we appreciate the love. Please share, subscribe, rate, review. Give us those five stars on Apple Podcasts. Go check out the Raider Take Podcast YouTube channel. Trying to get things going a little bit on that some more. And, yeah, see what happens this Sunday. We need to win. We need to win big time. We need to win all of our games for the rest of the season. It would be fantastic. But if there was a game that is an absolute can't lose and a must win at the same time, I would say this game is – Or lost. Yeah. Must win, can't lose, or your lost game of the week, of the year. It's this week. Raider Nation, stand up. We love you guys. Sit down right now. Stand up 1 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. We're going to do this thing. Peace. We'll be right back. We'll be right back. We'll be right back.