Raiders at Risk on Sunday?
The Raiders had a nice bounce back from a home loss to the Bears, going to Denver and beating the Broncos 34-24 last week. Now the Eagles come to Sin City on some extra rest, suffering a 28-22 loss to Tampa Bay on Thursday Night Football last time out.
Las Vegas is in kind of a vulnerable spot here, coming off a win against a division opponent, playing a team with extra rest, and looking ahead to their bye next week. Because of that spot, BetOnline and Bovada have the Raiders as just -3 favorites, betting odds that some might consider on the low side for a 2-4 Philadelphia vs. 4-2 Las Vegas matchup.
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Eagles a Hard Team to Predict
You have to give the Eagles credit for keeping last Thursday night’s loss to the Bucs within one score at the end, considering Philadelphia had just 223 yards of total offense. That includes a 12/26 passing day from Jalen Hurts, who finished with just 115 yards passing.
It’s looking more and more like Hurts’ 387 yard passing performance against the Chiefs in a 42-30 week four loss was either a) a fluke or b) because KC has a really bad defense. The Eagles won’t put up many yards through the air, but what makes them tough to fade in NFL picks is that they still keep those games close.
Hurts was just 22/37 for 198 yards vs. Carolina, yet Philadelphia still pulled out a 21-18 win. Hurts also isn’t bad to back with these +3 point betting lines because he still has success running the ball, posting four TDs on the ground the last two weeks. Miles Sanders added 56 yards on the ground vs. Tampa Bay’s #1 rushing defense, but per usual, he only received nine carries.
The Eagles gave up two TD passes to Tom Brady last week and another two scores on the ground to Leonard Fournette, but giving up 28 points still isn’t bad against that Bucs offense. Totals betting is hard to call for Sunday’s matchup with the Raiders because the Eagles allowed 83 total points over consecutive games against Dallas and Kansas City this season.
Raiders Need to Get Through a Tough Spot
Sunday is definitely a sandwich game for the Raiders, coming off a win at a divisional foe, hosting a non-conference opponent, and with the bye upcoming next week. That’s not to take anything away from the Raiders’ 10-point win at Denver with betting lines of LV +5.
What was even more impressive about the Raiders win last week was that they overcame the distractions from the Jon Gruden firing during the week and got the win under interim coach Rich Bicassia. That gives Las Vegas some optimism to overcome the ‘look ahead’ and the ‘letdown game’ for NFL week 7, especially in Bicassia’s home debut.
Last Sunday was a nice rebound game for the Raiders offense and against a Broncos defense that is #5 in total yards allowed and #2 in points given up. Derek Carr had 341 yards and 2TD a week after being held to 206 yards and 0 TD in a 20-9 home loss to the Bears.
Eagles at Raiders Pick
The Raiders defense is in the top half of the league in total yards allowed (353.3) but struggles against the run (130.7), which is basically the only offensive threat Philadelphia has right now. One advantage Las Vegas has is that they’ve already faced two mobile QBs this year in Lamar Jackson and Justin Fields, so should know how to game plan for Hurts.
The only thing that’s scary in this one is that the betting line seems like it should be LV -5 or -6. The public is going to be hammering the Raiders on this line, so maybe the Eagles do get the running game going too much.
Pick: Eagles +3
