The Raiders may be one of the worst teams in football, but what have the Jets done to merit road favoritism? Also, the Raiders held double-digit leads vs. the Bills and Chargers, and the Jets are not as good.
Now at first glance, it may seem like a no-brainer to back the New York Jets laying just a field goal vs. the lowly Oakland Raiders right?
[articleBanner]who2beton[/articleBanner]Well, aside from the fact that it seems almost to good to be true, there are legitimate reasons to actually support the Raiders here, not the least of which is that the Jets are simply not good enough to be road favorites.
After all, they are 3-2 with the wins coming vs. the Miami Dolphins, who finished 10 yards from pulling the upset at the end of the game, the Arizona Cardinals travelling across the country for an early kick-off and the Cincinnati Bengals with Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback. Furthermore, the Jets did not have that Bengals game covered last week until a touchdown in the final minutes.
Meanwhile, as bad as the Raiders are perceived to be, they did have double-digit leads vs. the Buffalo Bills on the road and vs. the San Diego Chargers here at home, and the Jets are not as good as either of those squads. Besides, when you consider that Oakland closed as just a seven-point underdog on the road at New Orleans last week, this line seems much closer to where it should be than most people think.
Finally, do not forget that the Jets have always had trouble travelling west, as demonstrated by their blowout loss at San Diego, so they simply cannot be trusted as road chalk here.
Free Pick: Raiders +3 (-110)