Detroit Lions at Oakland Raiders Odds & Game Pick
The Detroit Lions and Oakland Raiders each find themselves on the outside of their respective playoff pictures looking in. Both need a win on Sunday to stay in the thick of things, but the reality is one team will lose and fall back.
Detroit snapped a three-game slide with a 31-26 win over the New York Giants that pushed them to 3-3-1 on the season last weekend. They’ve had a number of close calls and could conceivably be 6-1. Meanwhile, Oakland has dropped back-to-back games to the Green Bay Packers and Houston Texans to fall to 3-4 on the season. Can the Raiders respond in their first home game since Week 2?
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Details
- Opening Line: Oakland -2.5 at PointsBet
- Current Line: Oakland -2
- Over/Under: 50.5
- Location: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, Oakland, California
- Start Time: 4:05 PM ET
- Last Meeting: Lions 18 vs. Raiders 13 (11/22/15)
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Overview
The Raiders likely couldn’t wait to get back home following six weeks away from Oakland. They will need to make the home-field advantage count in order to avoid adding to their recent struggles against NFC opponents. The Raiders are just 1-10-1 against the spread versus NFC teams in Oakland dating back to 2012. Derek Carr has done his best to keep the Raiders hovering near the .500 mark this season, throwing for 1,695 yards and 11 touchdowns with just four interceptions. Meanwhile, rookie running back Josh Jacobs has lived up to the hype with 722 scrimmage yards and four touchdowns. Still, there has been too much pressure on the offense with Oakland giving up an average of 27.4 points per game this season. Simply put, the Raiders need to be better on that side of the football in order to start winning with more consistency.
Meanwhile, the Lions are in a similar boat with a defense that has allowed 26.6 points per game. It might have been a blessing in disguise that Detroit didn’t get the offer they wanted to trade their best cornerback Darius Slay at the deadline. Matthew Stafford surpassed Hall of Fame quarterback Joe Montana for the 19th-most passing yards in NFL history with a 342-yard, three-touchdown performance against the Giants last week. He might need to deliver a similar performance this week in order to beat Oakland.
Trends
- Lions have won 4 straight vs. Oakland
- Detroit is 5-1 ATS in last road games
- Raiders are 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games following SU loss
- Oakland is 5-1 ATS in its last 6 home games
Bottom Line
As indicated by the sportsbooks with the total set at 50.5, this is expected to be one of the highest-scoring games of the week. It’s a matchup of two of the worst pass defenses as the Lions are dead-last in the NFL in passing yards allowed while the Raiders are third-last.
Traditionally, Detroit hasn’t done well in road trips to the West Coast, and that trend likely continues here. The question is will Oakland take advantage or will they be flat in their first game at home after such a long road trip? Both teams can score points in bunches, but neither team has been very good at keeping opponents in check. The over seems like the best bet as the spread seems like a toss-up.
Prediction: Lions 31, Raiders 29
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Check out our other NFL Sports Betting Guides for Week 9
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Dave Golokhov is a featured writer at BettingPros. For more from Dave, check out his archive and follow him @davegolokhov.