Its getting down to the nitty gritty in the season and it would be a great victory to beat this Bears team, even if they are missing Cutler. I know we have the talent to beat them and I know we have the heart, but we will see if we have the drive this weekend to do so. We are lucky to not be facing Jay Cutler Sunday, but Caleb Hanie is no slouch. If our defense does not come in prepared to play an above average quarterback and one of the best running backs in the game in Matt Forte it could be a very long day.

According to Sons of Blanda's recent post depicting the likeliness of victory based off the opposing teams rush offense we are suppose to lose this game. His results for that post remain intact due to the injury to Adrian Peterson creating an explainable anomaly to the final result in our win against the Vikings. I am hoping that this game we dominate the line of scrimmage and keep Forte in check. If we can keep Forte under 100 yards from scrimmage we have a very good chance of winning. If he is running rampent all day it will prove SoB's theory correct and result in a very angry Raider Nation. I am still hoping that his theory was more coincidental than scientific but I dont often believe in coincidences and am therefore nervous for this game. Jump over for more....

Noontide's post that whoever moves the rock on the ground more wins this game is a very real probability. That means we need a healthy dose of Michael Bush again in this game. I would very much expect Bush to have 30+ carries once again in this game. The Bears defense is a swarming pack of nastiness and if they smell fear they will attack viciously. We need to punch them right in the mouth and get them back on their heels. Get them to put 8 in the box and respect the run and hit them deep. That is the Raider way and we need to execute it well this Sunday. If we average 4 yards a carry with Bush and feed him well I believe we will come out with the W.

We are once again in a great spot in the division. The Chargers and Broncos play each other so one of them will have to lose, or even better tie! Its a weird season when I am rooting for the Chargers to beat the Broncos right now and on the surface that's what helps us best. I am not completely certain that is what is best since I still consider SD to be the better team and to have them 3 games out with 5 (after a win by us) to play would be nice. However, if we were to lose this game than we definitely want Denver to lose too instead of go through the media storm that would ensue with Tebow tying us for 1st place. Kansas City's Tyler Palko looked so good on Monday against New England that his team claimed Kyle Orton off Waivers. I imagine Palko will get another shot this weekend against the Pittsburgh Steelers and after that massacre they will turn to Orton. That means good things for the Raiders are on the horizon if we handle our own business.

I suspect at the end of the day the Raiders will be either 1 or 2 games ahead of everybody in the AFC west because I think San Diego beats Denver. At worst we will still be tied for the lead if we lose and Denver wins but I am not good at sharing and want the lead all to ourselves. Lets hope we have that come to fruition with a hard fought win against one of the best teams in football. Signature moment here we come!