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Raiders at Falcons Preview: Coach Smith looking for No. 49

Oct 13, 2012, 12:56 PM EDT

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RAIDERS (1-3) AT FALCONS (5-0)

By Football Night in America’s Elliott Kalb

Since Mike Smith took over at the start of the 2008 season, the Falcons are 48-21.  A win on Sunday would give him his 49th win, tying him with Dan Reeves for the most in franchise history.

Raiders head coach Dennis Allen was a former assistant to Dan Reeves, spending four seasons with the Falcons (2002-05) as a defensive assistant and quality-control coach.  Allen was born in Atlanta and his father, Grady, played for the Falcons from 1968-72.

Atlanta’s offense has been consistent.  Their 24 points scored against Washington is their season low.  The Atlanta offense is averaging 29.6 per game—one of six teams in the league averaging at least 29 per game.

The Raiders play their first game following the bye week.  In Week 4 they lost 37-6 to the Broncos, allowing more than 500 yards of offense.

The Raiders’ defense has allowed over 30 points in each of its last three games.  On the season, the Raiders are yielding a 53.3 percent conversion rate on third down, which would be an NFL record.

The Raiders and Lions are the only teams without an interception this season.

Cornerback Brandian Ross—signed off the Packers’ practice squad on September 19th—has impressed in practice.  But with Michael Huff moving from safety to corner following injuries to Ron Bartell and Shawntae Spencer, Ross’ path has been blocked.

Darren McFadden—who averaged 5.3 yards per rush over the 2010-11 seasons—is averaging only 3.5 yards per carry this season, a major factor in the Raiders’ league-worst 60.8 yards per game.

Despite the ground struggles, the Raiders are sticking to the plan and are not making changes to the offensive line.  Coach Dennis Allen believes that the new zone-blocking scheme instituted this year is partially to blame; Allen said that he saw significant progress in practice during the bye week.

36-year-old Tony Gonzalez had 13 catches last week, the second-highest total of his career.  He leads the league with 39 receptions and has been a crucial short-yardage target with Julio Jones and Roddy White stretching the field.

Gonzalez has caught a touchdown in four of the five games this season.  He has 99 career touchdowns and his next will make the 21st player in history to reach 100 rushing/receiving TD.

Darrius Heyward-Bey is likely to play for the first time since being hospitalized following a hit on September 23rd.

DE Andre Carter, signed by the Raiders in late September, has been working to get himself in shape and could make his season debut on Sunday.  Carter had 10 sacks for New England last year, and would provide needed skill for the Raidersdefense that has a league-worst three sacks on the year.

Whether due to focusing on quarterbacks (they’ve faced Peyton Manning and RGIII, among others), the loss of MLB Curtis Lofton, or just bad execution, the Falcons believe that there is no excuse for the run defense that’s allowing 142.8 yards per game (28th).  Safety William Moore said “…to me personally, it’s embarrassing to be ranked where we are ranked because I know the type of guys that we have,” Moore said.

Sunday’s game is the second of five Raider games in the Easter Time Zone this season, most in franchise history.  Over the course of the season, the Raiders will travel 28,692 miles, most of any team.

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