What will it take for the Raiders to go to Houston and pull off the upset versus the Texans in week 16?

We'll break that down on Thursday's edition of the Locked on Raiders podcast for December 18, 2025.

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Welcome to a Raider Nation to another edition of the Locked on Raiders podcast, part of the Locked On Podcast Network, your team every day. Welcome at Raider Nation to another edition of the Locked on Raiders podcast, part of the

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We're also very proud of this show and the fact that it continues to grow each and every

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We appreciate him. He's on Twitter at Ari Produces. You can hit me up as well at your boy Q254. And we got the Lockedorn Raider podcast voicemail line for you. 707-654-469-3 on Thursdays, though we have no calls and text. No Locked on Raider podcast. We'll get that coming up on Friday as we close out the week and head into the weekend strong in Week 16 action Raiders versus Houston, Texas. Today it's all about the Texans, all about the Raiders. We call it the crossover edition, the next team up on the schedule, the host of that show and myself, we get together and we talk about the

storylines. We talk about the matchups and we talk about paths to victory sometime give our

game predictions how we think it's going to go. Obviously for the Texans, they're sitting

there at 9 and 5. The Raiders are sitting there at 2 and 12. Two teams going to two different

directions. But we continue to go through the crossover Thursday because that's what we do here on the network and across the shows. And I know a lot of folks do enjoy them, even though we all know the Raiders are out of it. So John Hickman, host of Lockdown Texans and myself, will do exactly what we're supposed to do. Storylines, matchups, keys to victory. Matter of fact, in this one, we actually give our game prediction. So you'll hear the game prediction, segment number three, segment number two, you talk about the matchups to look for, and here in segment number one, storylines for this game. We'll jump right into that after I tell you about the title sponsor of the show on crossover Thursday. It's prize picks. Download the prize picks apps today. Use code locked on NFL to get your $50 in lineups after you play your first fight-out lineup. And of course, I'll tell you more about them after segment number one. But let's go ahead and jump into it. Storylines for the Raiders, storylines for the Texans. Again, two teams going in two different directions. Texans have a championship defense and the Raiders, well, they're on the first thing smoking to the offseason. But John Hickman and myself, we break down the storylines, Texans, the Raiders here in segment number one. Hugh! What's happening? It's been a long time, man. Yeah, no, it has. It has, man. It's exciting to be at this part of the season. I wish it was talking about a more competitive game, but here we are, right? You go through and you continue to go through the season as you do, and the Raiders have two wins, and the Texans look like they're, you know, aiming for the playoffs, and the Raiders look like they're aiming for the offseason. So we still have plenty to talk about. I just wish it was a more competitive game upcoming. Let's talk about why the Vegas Raiders hadn't been their best. You know, the all season needed a complete overhaul, broad end Pete Carroll, Gino Smith. You were expecting big things from Brock Byr with Jacobi Myers, you know, finishing his year off last year, expected for him to be a major factor for this offense this year. You bring over Chip Kelly. He's not going. What's just

happened with this team? I mean, you got Max Krosby on the other side of the ball. And even with

this team being as bad as they are, the defense isn't as bad as other teams in the NFL. They're

kind of middle of the pack team right now on the other defense side of the ball. But offensively,

what happened this year that allow Florida Vegas to fall out of any type of competitive contention? They just weren't never on the same page. They just, Chip Kelly, Pete Carroll, two different philosophies, two different people that hired them. So it was never like they were on the same page. And Pete Carroll said, yep, Chip Kelly is going to be the guy that's going to run this offense. I mean, he was basically giving him, given Chip Kelly. It was like an arranged marriage. And, you know, it's funny. I remember the week of the Super Bowl and being there in New Orleans for Radio Row and finding out that Chip Kelly is going to be the OC. and you mentioned it that he was linked to the Texans, and I thought that that's where he was going.

Then all of a sudden, the Raiders, umpte, O'Row and finding out that Chip Kelly is going to be the O.C. And you mentioned it that he was linked to the Texans.

And I thought that that's where he was going.

Then all of a sudden, the Raiders, umpty Annie, paid him a lot of money and brought him in. So I thought this offense was going to be innovative. And it was everything but that, right? And Gino never seemed to be on the same page. the running game never got going because the offensive line was very bad.

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