(Sportsbooks) - For all of Oakland's experience on offense, and the thousands of catches Jerry Rice and Tim Brown have, the team played with a remarkably inexperienced group of receivers last week in Nashville. At times the Raiders had tight ends Doug Jolley and Teyo Johnson, WR Ronald Curry and RB Justin Fargas on the field. Jolley was the only one of the quartet with an NFL catch to his credit.
The Raiders face an interesting dilemma this week versus Cincinnati. They need to develop some rhythm on offense with the Denver trip upcoming (Week 3) but don't want to risk more injuries. The offensive line committed every kind of penalty to back up the Raiders last week. Oakland was forced into seven plays of at least third-and-10. That let the Titans come after QB Rich Gannon, and the Raiders' leader wound up missing a play with a sprained knee after a hard takedown.
Wide Receiver Jerry Porter, the Raiders' primary deep threat and a matchup nightmare for opposing defenses, will miss the game with an abdominal strain. He missed two preseason games with the injury that was first sustained in last year's playoffs. Porter had one catch in the opener before removing himself from the game. Porter's absence will limit the Raiders somewhat on Sunday.
"You're missing a big-body presence at the receiver position where you can obviously match up on the smaller DBs," Bill Callahan said. "He has the ability to dominate downfield, so that would be something we would obviously miss."
Oakland was again out of whack in the run-pass ratio. Charlie Garner had only nine carries last week and Tyrone Wheatley was not active so the Raiders could play Fargas on special teams. With fullback Chris Hetherington also out for this game, Wheatley and Zack Crockett should get some carries as the Raiders try to get out healthy before their first AFC West showdown. At center, Matt Stinchcomb played well in his first start at the position.
DEFENSIVE WOES
Safety Rod Woodson was injured in Week 1 and underwent knee surgery this week. Oakland will enter the game with just two healthy safeties. Anthony Dorsett is the natural choice to replace Woodson at free safety, but he severely sprained an ankle against Tennessee and will likely be limited if he plays.
Woodson's injury leaves a void in leadership and experience in the secondary. Derrick Gibson will start at strong safety with rookie seventh-rounder Sideeq Shabazz and first-round pick Nnamdi Asomugha the only other players with safety experience if Dorsett can't play. Asomugha missed most of the preseason with a shoulder injury. Expect the Bengals to try and exploit either one with TE Matt Schobel, who had four catches for 97 yards against Denver.
UP NEXT: The Raiders will head to Denver for a matchup with the Broncos on Monday night, September 22.
