No. 4 – Derek Carr & Amari Cooper
Losers of three of their last four games, the Raiders have cooled off of late. In a loss to the dreadful Lions two weeks ago, Derek Carr was held to just 164 yards passing. He rebounded last week to go for 330 and three touchdowns in a win against Tennessee, although none of those went to his leading receiver, Amari Cooper.
Cooper has been held scoreless over the past three games and made just one catch for four yards against Detroit. He rebounded with 115 yards against the Titans, his first 100-yard game since Week 7. Against Denver in Week 5, he was held to 47 yards on four catches.
Cooper benefits from having Michael Crabtree opposite him, but the Broncos were mostly able to nullify their dual threat with the combination of Chris Harris and Aqib Talib earlier this year. Together, Cooper and Crabtree accounted for 101 yards, but were kept out of the end zone in the 16-10 Broncos victory. Even if T.J. Ward is not ready in two weeks for this matchup, Denver should have both Omar Bolden and David Bruton available in the secondary to provide additional air defense against Cooper and Crabtree.
Excluding his off week against the Lions, Carr has thrown for 300-plus yards and at least to touchdowns in four of the past five games. He threw for four TDs against both Pittsburgh and the Jets and three against Tennessee. Each of those defenses pales in comparison to Denver’s, but the Broncos continue to battle injuries.
Will Ward, DeMarcus Ware and Sylvester Williams be healthy in two weeks? Can Denver avoid other injuries on defense? Keeping Harris and Talib healthy will be critical to containing Carr and Cooper, not to mention Crabtree, when this Week 14 matchup rolls around.
