Eagles vs. Raiders: NFL experts make Week 7 picks

I do believe that the Eagles are going to win some more games this season, and I don’t think the Raiders are that much better than Philly is — but going to face them in Vegas fresh off their emotional win last week, I think the Raiders’ momentum will carry them to a competitive victory on Sunday.

It feels like ages since the Eagles last played and they should be fresh coming off their mini-bye week following their Thursday night loss. Lane Johnson and Dallas Goedert are back and the offense should be better on paper to be sure. If they took the time off to reflect, and perhaps make some necessary changes to their scheme and plan of attack, maybe we’ll see a team that looks more like the dynamic offense that burst to a Week 1 win. But I think this team’s growing pains will continue into Week 7 as they’ll falter in a winnable contest. I do believe it will be a game they can build off of, in contrast to a game that makes fans want everyone to be fired and traded.

The 2-4 Eagles aren’t as bad as their record suggests, or even as bad as they have looked at times. I truly believe that. The stat nerds do, as well. Football Outsiders have the Eagles ranked 18th, according to their defense-adjusted value over average (DVOA) system. Pro Football Focus has them 16th, according to what nebulous numbers system they use. I just use my eyes and look at their schedule through six games (13th-hardest, per FO) and their remaining schedule (30th easiest) and think it’s got to get better for the Birds. […]

All that being said, the Eagles in Las Vegas are hard to gamble on (get it?). I think Sirianni and defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon took their medicine during the mini-bye and will make minor changes to the offense (traditional run calls!) and the defense (aggression!). But they can’t do much in terms of personnel and they’re just going to have to bite the bullet at certain positions. I see a relatively close game, and possibly a road upset, but all bets are off if the Eagles get off to another sluggish start.

The Eagles need to take the load off Jalen Hurts’ plate as a passer. It’s time to focus more on designed runs for the quarterback and the running back duo of Miles Sanders and Kenny Gainwell.

The Raiders are the 25th-ranked run defense in the league heading into Week 7 and the Eagles should look to exploit their defense’s mediocrity in that regard. With the running game setting the tone early, the Eagles should be able to attack the Raiders’ secondary down the stretch.

This won’t be a high-scoring game, and the Eagles will need to adjust their play-calling a bit, but this feels like an upset win in the making.

Even at 2-4, the Eagles are better than the 1-5 I expected them to be through six games. The schedule softens during these next few weeks. The Raiders might be 4-2, but they’re below the Eagles in DVOA and will give the Eagles a better sense of where they are than games against the Cowboys, Chiefs and Buccaneers. The extra time to prepare should be a good reset for this coaching staff. My guess is a big story from this game will be the Eagles fans visiting Las Vegas for the weekend. If the defensive line can pressure Carr, Jonathan Gannon’s group will keep the points down. It’s incumbent upon the offense to improve. I’m more skeptical there. They won’t solve their problems Sunday, but they’ll be more efficient and have fewer three and outs. The Eagles won’t need to win this game in the 30s. I’ll keep going back to the prediction of a big game from DeVonta Smith. A healthy Goedert should make a difference on third downs. Philadelphia will do just enough to win this game, and there will be Eagles chants keeping fans awake on the red-eyes home from Vegas.

The Eagles should match up well with the Raiders. Unlike the Broncos a week ago, Philadelphia’s pass rush can take advantage of Las Vegas’ Achilles’ heel up front. And the return of Lane Johnson improves both tackle spots with Jordan Mailata sliding back to the left side, giving the Eagles a chance to mitigate the for real for real Raiders pass rush. The quarterbacks are not remotely even in this game, but the Eagles aren’t as bad as their 2-4 record indicates and the Raiders probably aren’t quite as good as their 4-2. Call it a hunch, but in a coin flip game, I’ll take a more rested Philly team against a Vegas squad coming off the high of its best game of the season.

The Eagles are rested after playing on a Thursday, while the Raiders are coming off a victory in their first game without Jon Gruden. They played well on both sides of the ball in that game. But I think the Eagles will be able to hang around in this one. It’s close, and both teams will score a bunch.

Chris Simms has said that, when playing for Jon Gruden, games were easier than practices because Simms didn’t have to constantly listen to Gruden. Maybe that theory applies to Derek Carr, too, when it comes to no longer having to listen to Gruden during practices or games.