Detroit Lions @ Oakland Raiders Sun. Dec. 18, 2011 4:05 p.m. EST

Over the last two years, the Oakland Raiders have slowly but surely started to move up the rankings in the AFC Conference with a bright future on the horizon. With talented young players on both sides of the football and veterans like quarterback Carson Palmer and defensive tackle Richard Seymour; the Raiders have become a force to be reckoned with once again and seem to get closer and closer to finally ending the playoff drought.

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This season the Oakland Raiders have arguably been the best all-around team in the AFC West division with a first place standing throughout the majority of the season. Last week that all changed when the undefeated Green Bay Packers dominated the Oakland Raiders (46-16) at Lambeau Field which dropped to the silver and black to a 7-6 record. With the Raiders losing and the Denver Broncos winning, Oakland fell to second place in the AFC West and might be in serious danger of missing the playoffs entirely.

Matthew Stafford - Detroit Lions

With that being said, the Oakland Raiders need to bounce back immediately in order to salvage the once promising season with only three regular season games remaining on the schedule. Fortunately, the Raiders will play the lowly division rivals in the Kansas City Chiefs (Week 16) and the San Diego Chargers (Week 17) in which they will probably be favored to win, but they must first face the up-and-coming Detroit Lions in Week 15.

Now that the Detroit Lions have become a legitimate force to be reckoned with in the NFC Conference, Matthew Stafford and company could be headed to a playoff appearance. Much like the Raiders, this would be the first playoff appearance by the Lions in a very long time, but Detroit’s chances of making the playoffs are much better than Oakland’s at this point.

Since they play in the same division (NFC North) as the defending Super Bowl champion Green Bay Packers who remain undefeated heading into Week 15 (13-0), the Detroit Lions will have to settle for a playoff berth through the NFC Wild Card. Even though the Lions look like they could be on their way to making the playoffs for the first time in quite some time, Detroit will have to keep their foot on the gas pedal moving forward as they have to contend with the Oakland Raiders this week and both the San Diego Chargers and the undefeated Green Bay Packers in the last two weeks of the NFL regular season.

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Both the Detroit Lions and the Oakland Raiders are talented football teams on both sides of the ball with potentially bright futures down the road, but coming into this matchup I believe the Lions are the better team and should get the win.

As of right now, the Detroit Lions are favored to get the win over the Oakland Raiders with a -2 point spread.

Take the Lions at -2.

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