Oakland Raiders Have Advantage After Short Week

You would think the Oakland Raiders were at a disadvantage going into their game against the Carolina Panthers. But that isn’t the case as the Panthers will be short-handed Sunday.

I was very concerned about the Oakland Raiders playing against the Carolina PantherS Sunday at first. The Panthers have been playing much better of late and the Raiders are on a short week. And it was a close game that had quarterback Derek Carr making another comeback.

Close, emotional wins and losses scare me for a team that has a short week for the next game. They especially scare me when the other team, the Panthers in this case, have 11 days recovery. But the Panthers are more beat up than the Raiders at this point.

The Panthers have ruled out Luke Kuechly, the best ILB in the NFL, for the game. He’s still in concussion protocol after being carted off the field late in the fourth quarter last Thursday. This comes as the Raiders look to get the running game going again.

The Panthers have also ruled out C Ryan Kalil (shoulder) and DE Mario Addison (foot). The team also placed OT Michael Oher (concussion) and CB Zack Sanchez (groin) on injured reserve. And the Panthers’ O-line is bad enough when Oher is playing.

Meanwhile, CB David Amerson the only starter in danger of not playing, is now questionable. Questionable almost always means the player will play so the Raiders will their squad from last week. So body-wise, the Raiders will have an advantage Sunday.