As of today, September 1st, 2020, there are 11 days until the Las Vegas Raiders take on the Carolina Panthers in week one. Here at BroSports, we’re going to release one Raiders game prediction a day until kickoff. We’re going to take a look at how we think the Raiders will match up with each opponent, what we think the score will be, and track those Raiders wins and losses throughout the season.
Off the bye, the Las Vegas Raiders host Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in a game full of poetic intrigue.
Las Vegas Raiders 2020 Predictions: Week Seven
The Buccaneers at a Glance
Nobody had a better off-season than the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Not only did they lose the dead weight known as Jameis Winston, but they added a living legend in Tom Brady. They also lured monster tight end, Rob Gronkowski away from the WWE.
They aren’t slouches on defense either, boasting the talents of Vita Vea, Ndomakung Suh, Shaq Barrett, Devin White, and most importantly, a guy named Ryan Smith. This is the only unit in the NFL that was able to contain Christian McCaffrey last season.
Keys to Victory
Honestly, the keys to victory here are pretty simple. Tom Brady isn’t Patrick Mahomes, you’ve gotta get internal pressure and force him to move around the pocket. His arm isn’t what he used to be, and if you can limit how much time he has to survey the field, his numbers dramatically drop off.
In nearly every loss of Tom Brady’s career, the other team hit him at least 10 times. If you go back and look, the teams that beat his Patriots were the teams that put him on the ground. If Maurice Hurst was ever going to have a coming out party, this is it.
Poetry
This is the first time that Jon Gruden will face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers since they fired him over a decade ago. This is also the first time that Gruden will coach against Tom Brady, the man that got him traded, since he returned to the Raiders. Off the bye, in primetime, at home, against an opponent with so much historical intrigue… it would be a very poetic coming out party for the Raiders, wouldn’t it?
The Prediction
Sadly, for all the reasons that the Chiefs were able to beat the Raiders, I think Tampa Bay can as well. Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Rob Gronkowski, and the rest of Brady’s weapons are a big ask for a young secondary, even off the bye. And the Tampa Bay defense isn’t as bad as it looked on paper either.
The Raiders can beat good teams, but I’m not sure I trust them to beat great teams, at least not this year. After a promising start, the Raiders fall to .500 before hitting the road.
Narcissistic Penguin 
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