Miami Dolphins at Las Vegas Raiders NFL 9-26
Are the Raiders For Real?
One of the biggest surprises in the NFL through the first two weeks of the 2021 season is the absolute dominance of the Las Vegas Raiders offense, specifically their passing game. Sure it’s early, but Derek Carr is playing like an MVP candidate heading into the NFL Week 3 clash at home with the Miami Dolphins.
The betting public is going to love the Raiders in this game, as Bovada has them as just -4 point favorites. BetUS has this game off the board due to Miami QB concerns.
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Can Tua Go?
By far, the biggest question in this sports betting pick is who will go at QB for the Dolphins. 2nd-year signal-caller Tua Tagovailoa got injured in last week’s 35-0 beating at the hands of Buffalo and is likely out Sunday with fractured ribs. Jacoby Brissett is an experienced backup, but he came in and went just 24 of 40 for 169 yards vs. the Bills.
The Dolphins don’t have the running game to stand alone in this Sunday’s game. Myles Gaskin has rushed for just 74 yards through two games, and Miami has just one rushing TD on the season, and that’s by Tagovailoa. To be fair, the Dolphins only have two TD total all season, the other being a scoring pass to rookie Jaylen Waddle.
One of the big things that stands out with these betting odds is that Miami doesn’t have the offense to keep the ball away from Las Vegas but also doesn’t have the defense to stop the Raiders. The Dolphins’ defense did look good in the opener beating New England 17-16, but Buffalo ran for 143 yards last week, and Josh Allen had two TD passes.
Raiders Set to Air It Out
Even though Allen did have 2 TD passes last week vs. Miami, he also only completed 17 of 33 passes for just 179 yards. Does Miami somewhat secretly have the secondary to cover the 4 points in these free betting picks? Rookie Mac Jones did complete 29 of 39 passes for New England in the opener against Miami.
It really might not matter who is playing defense the way Derek Carr is commanding the Raiders offense right now. Carr threw for 435 yards to lead the Raiders to a 33-27 win over Pittsburgh in the season opener and followed that up with 382 to beat Pittsburgh 26-17 last week. Carr hit 75% of his passes last week and has 4 TD to 1 INT on the season.
It looks like the Raiders defense will get a nice break in this Online Betting Sports matchup. The Ravens ran for 189 yards against Las Vegas in Week 1, but the Steelers had just 39 yards on 14 attempts last week. Through two weeks Miami ranks 30th in rushing and 27th in passing, scoring the fewest points in the league at just 8.5 per game.
Dolphins at Raiders Pick
The fact that Las Vegas is only favored by 4 points looks like a red flag. This is a Raiders team moving the ball up and down the field at wil, and Miami is starting a backup QB in an offense that isn’t that good anyways. It feels like a trap, but you also can’t overthink this one.