Cowboys vs. Raiders prediction: How will Dallas' new-look defense perform on 'Monday Night Football'?

The Las Vegas Raiders host to the Dallas Cowboys for the Week 11 edition of "Monday Night Football" with the Cowboys hoping their trade deadline acquisitions will bolster them through the remainder of the 2025 season. Meanwhile, the Raiders are simply trying to salvage a season marked by numerous setbacks.

Las Vegas is coming off an embarrassing performance against the division rival Broncos on "Thursday Night Football" in Week 10, and has now lost three in a row. The Raiders' only win since the season opener came against the lowly Titans, and they're playing more for draft positioning than anything else at this point in the season.

Dallas is fresh off the bye after losing two consecutive games for the first time this season before the break. The Cowboys made massive moves at the trade deadline to try to propel themselves back into the playoff picture, but it's going to take a Herculean effort down the stretch for that to happen. If it's going to become a reality, it has to start on Monday night. 

Which of these two teams will bounce back from their latest loss? Which will join the Week 11 NFL winners and losers? Before we break down the matchup, here's a look at how you can watch the game.

Where to watch Cowboys vs. Raiders live

• Date: Monday, Nov. 17 | Time: 8:15 p.m. ET
• Location: Allegiant Stadium -- Las Vegas
• TV: ESPN/ABC | Stream: Fubo (Try for free) 
• Follow: CBS Sports App
• Odds: Cowboys -3.5, O/U 49.5 via DraftKings Sportsbook

LIVE updates: Follow along with all the action as the Cowboys battle the Raiders on "Monday Night Football."

When the Cowboys have the ball

Dallas is coming off its Week 10 bye, having put together two of its weakest offensive performances of the season against the Broncos and Cardinals prior to the break. The Cowboys had been rolling with one of the very best offenses in the NFL prior to those two contests, and they're pretty well positioned to get back on track here in Vegas. The Raiders are 24th in opponent success rate against both the run and the pass, according to TruMedia, which should allow the Cowboys to choose their own adventure as they look to attack this defense. 

The Cowboys also have their offensive line fully healthy now after experiencing a myriad of injury issues earlier in the year. Every lineman with the exception of right tackle Terence Steele (the weakest link in the chain) missed at least one game prior to the bye, with right guard Tyler Booker missing three and center Cooper Beebe missing six before returning for that loss to Arizona. Now at full strength, that group should be able to create similar push and provide similar protection to what it did early in the season before the injuries started piling up. 

Dallas has some pretty strong passing game advantages, in particular. The Raiders overhauled their secondary this offseason, and not necessarily to their benefit. Vegas checks in 23rd in EPA allowed per dropback, via TruMedia, allowing opponents to consistently create chunk gains through the air. 

The Cowboys will line CeeDee Lamb up all over the field, but he's at his most effective in the slot, where the Raiders largely count on Jeremy Chinn and Darnay Holmes to do the coverage. They've each allowed passer ratings over 100 on their slot snaps, according to Pro Football Focus, which is obviously a recipe for disaster against Lamb. 

Things don't get much easier when it comes to covering George Pickens, who operates as a true "X" receiver and wins on all kinds of comebacks, out-breakers and especially deep balls down the field. There has arguably been no better deep receiver in the NFL this season, and Eric Stokes, Darien Porter, Kyu Blu Kelly and the safeties over the top will have their hands full when it comes to containing him on those plays. 

The Raiders' best hope when it comes to shutting down the Dallas passing game is obviously through getting considerable pressure on Dak Prescott, who has absolutely cooked defenses when actually afforded time to throw this season. The Raiders have one of the best pressure players in the world in Maxx Crosby, but they're still below average in pressure rate, per Tru Media, generating a sack, hit or hurry on only 32.9% of opponent dropbacks. If it's not Crosby dominating the game, it's hard to see how they'll get to Prescott on a consistent basis.

The Raiders have actually done some pretty good work against the run on occasion this year, and they've been especially good at limiting yards before contact (0.98 per attempt, via TruMedia). They've largely limited explosive runs as well. The Dallas run game is mostly about ripping off consistent clips of five yards or so per carry rather than creating big gains, though, and Javonte Williams will have to make sure fall forward at every opportunity to limit negatives and set up good down-and-distance situations.

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When the Raiders have the ball

The Raiders offense totally cratered last week against the Broncos, looking non-viable for almost the entire game as Geno Smith was under constant pressure and Ashton Jeanty had very little room to run. Smith limply completed 16 of 26 passes for 143 yards and an interception while taking six sacks and having to scramble three more times (on which he gained only seven yards), while Jeanty gained just over 3 yards per carry on his 19 rushing attempts. It was a gross, unacceptable performance.

Luckily for Las Vegas, this Cowboys defense is very much not that Broncos defense. Dallas has been one of the worst units in the NFL all season, allowing opponents to run and/or pass almost at will. The Cowboys are 31st in success rate against the run and 28th against the pass, per TruMedia, allowing 4.8 yards per carry and an otherworldly 8.2 yards per pass attempt. 

Of course, the Dallas defense that will take the field on Monday night is also much different than the one that has been taking the field for much of the season. The Cowboys added Quinnen Williams and Logan Wilson at the trade deadline, and will also get both Demarvion Overshown and rookie Shavon Revel back from injury for this game. 

That said, though, even Jerry Jones himself admitted that the Cowboys were not one or two players away from fixing their defense. They need every one of those reinforcements just to become a below-average unit, let alone a quality one. And it's likely that even their collective presences will not fix everything that was so wrong so far this year.

The Raiders need to make sure they do a much better job than they did a week ago of getting the ball to their best player, Brock Bowers. The star tight end somehow ended the game against Denver with only three targets, mere days after he had gone off for 12 catches for 127 yards and three touchdowns against the Jaguars. Dallas' numbers against tight ends are pretty good so far this season, but some of that is due to having played a relatively weak slate of opposing tight ends -- and Bowers at his best is really operating like more of a receiver anyway. 

The Raiders absolutely have to line him up everywhere until they get favorable looks, then pepper him with the ball. Especially after trading away Jakobi Meyers at the deadline, they really don't have much else when it comes to weapons in the passing game. Tre Tucker has great speed and can perhaps run by one of the Dallas corners in space, but behind him in the wide receiver room are Tyler Lockett (who was cut by the Titans), Jack Bech and Dont'e Thornton.

The Raiders are weakened up front after the loss of Jackson Powers-Johnson to injured reserve, which could prove particularly hampering in the run game against the new-look interior of Dallas' front, which now includes Williams, Kenny Clark and Osa Odighizuwa all together. The best path to rushing success is probably to try getting Jeanty on the perimeter, attacking Dallas' smaller edge defenders, who aren't as strong against the run as they are rushing the passer. If they can spring Jeanty to the outside, he can get up to the second level and try to make the Dallas defensive backs tackle in space. 

Cowboys vs. Raiders prediction, pick

The Raiders might be at home, but they just have too many matchup disadvantages defensively for me to think they're going to slow down the Dallas offense in the same way that the Cowboys' last two opponents did. The Dallas defense, meanwhile, may have gotten just enough reinforcements to not completely fall apart against an offense that doesn't have much going for it in the first place. Pick: Cowboys 30, Raiders 20