Predictions Summary Projections by Position Projection Team Boxes

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Prediction: BUF 24, OAK 10 (Line: BUF by 6)

The 8-6 Bills are only 3-3 in road games and head to Oakland to face the 2-12 Raiders who are just 2-5 at home. The Bills remain in the hunt for a wildcard while the Raiders are still contending for the #1 pick in the 2015 NFL draft. This feels like another low scoring game.

The Bills have a chance at a wildcard that will probably evaporate next week in New England. The defense has consistently been the strong suit and played an amazing game last week when they beat the Packers. This is another team that will likely look very different on offense in 2015 since the quest for a quarterback has not ended and a search for a running back is likely to start before Fred Jackson starts collecting social security.

QUARTERBACK : Kyle Orton is just a caretaker of the offense and has only four touchdowns over the last five games. Since midseason, he’s been a near lock for one score and around 200 yards in most games.

RUNNING BACK : C.J. Spiller has been activated from injured reserve/designated to return but will need to show in practice that he is ready to play. Problem is that he nothing special in the seven games he did play when he scored only once and rarely had more than around 50 rushing yards. Anthony Dixon is back to being just a relief player for a few carries per game and the ageless Fred Jackson is taking the bigger part of the load. he ran 20 times for 71 yards last week and added 27 yards on three catches. The previous week in Denver, he ran for 35 yards and added ten catches for 27 yards. This unit all combined only ran in three scores all year though.

WIDE RECEIVER : Sammy Watkins already had five scores by midseason along with three 100 yard games but since he really cooled and only once gained more than 35 yards in the six weeks while never scoring. Robert Woods and Chris Hogan offer the occasional touchdown but the wide receiver unit has declined as the season progresses.

TIGHT END : Scott Chandler has a couple of touchdowns and twice had big yardage efforts but most weeks won’t net more than 20 yards.

MATCH TO THE DEFENSE: The Raiders are bad against the run and allowed 19 touchdowns to the position this year with seven runners topping 80 yards. This is where most teams beat the Raiders and their passing defense looks better than it is because teams prefer to run on them. The Bills are going to split up the workload but Fred Jackson has one of his best matchups of the year and Spiller is not quite back yet. Jackson is worth consideration this week but the passing game elements have been mostly marginal lately anyway.

The Raiders wind down yet another inglorious season but at least think they have the quarterback of the future and maybe even the running back. There have been no soft spots in the Raiders schedule this year and that shows. But at least it has seasoned Derek Carr and should preclude a turning over of the soil in many areas in the offseason. When the Raiders face a good defense, the outcome has never been positive this year.

QUARTERBACK : Derek Carr trudges along and so far totals 18 touchdowns against 11 interceptions for a decent first season. His turnovers have decreased later in the season but he’s challenged to get more than about 200 passing yards in a game. He has yet to offer the consistency or production needed for any fantasy consideration.

RUNNING BACK : Darren McFadden and Maurice Jones-Drew are going out with a whimper this year and are almost guaranteed not back again. Latavius Murray has looked good if only in comparison to those two who have ensured that the Raiders will end with some of the worse rushing stats in the NFL. Murray’s big four play, two touchdown debut has yet to score a touchdown in the two successive games but at least he is turning in over 70 total yards each week and that is far better than the Raiders were getting.

WIDE RECEIVER : James Jones managed eight catches for 57 yards and a touchdown last week in Kansas City and that leaves him with five scores on the year. The ex-Packer remained below 65 yards in each of the last ten games and usually ends up with just 30 or 40 yards. Andre Holmes has found a starting spot but hasn’t scored since week eight. He had 70 yards just last week but rarely ends up with more than 40 yards in any game.

TIGHT END : Mychal Rivera had 109 yards and a score in the most recent home game but totaled less than that in the four most recent other games.

MATCH TO THE DEFENSE: The Bills sport one of the best defenses in the NFL and none of these players are likely to have a big game. Murray and Jones are desperation plays hoping for some yardage and lucking into a touchdown.

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