The Oakland Raiders will head into Lambeau Field to face the undefeated Green Bay Packers on Sunday, and they will do so extremely short-handed on offense. Head coach Hue Jackson told the media on Friday that Darren McFadden, Jacoby Ford, Denarius Moore, and Taiwan Jones are all out for Sunday's game. Moore and Ford both got some practice time in on Friday, but it sounds like it was not enough to convince Jackson they should play.
There is always the possibility Jackson is trying to fake out the Packers with these comments, but I highly doubt it. All four have been hobbled for some time now. Ford and Moore were considered decent possibilities to play on Sunday, but they were unable to get healthy in time.
This leaves the Raiders in quite the hole heading into their toughest game of the year. Michael Bush will remain the starting running back with Rock Cartwright acting as his primary backup. Darrius Heyward-Bey will be the number one receiver but the team will be looking for contributions from Chaz Schilens, Louis Murphy and TJ Houshmandzadeh. Fullback Marcel Reece will also be looked to in the passing game.
If the Raiders are going to pull off this upset, they will need an absolutely monster day from Michael Bush. Well, they will need that and a small miracle as they take their walking-wounded troupe into Green Bay. The line on this game opened at 10.5 and has moved up to 13. It could be a tough afternoon.
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