Greetings fellow degenerates! Hope you’re all having a spooky week! It’s been a great
week here at The Concordian sport section, as your gambling expert (me) has finally taken the season lead over these other posers in the season standings. Now, it’s time for my Best Bet to get even. My good friend Case Keenum helped me out last week. This week, I will be taking a team that nobody really believes in. Until last week, the Oakland Raiders were in the midst of a four game losing streak, and their franchise quarterback had a broken back. So this week, I will be presenting 5 reasons people don’t believe in the Raiders, and I’ll tell you why they are going to win.
1. “Derek Carr’s back was broken!”
The key here is the word “was”. Carr demonstrated last week that he is healthy, and is ready for a full slate of games. His offensive line play has been good, and the dude has a rocket arm. He has playmaking wide receivers who go and get the ball, and his running backs can carry some of the load.
2. “Wait, what running backs?? Marshawn Lynch is suspended!”
To be completely honest, this might not be the worst thing in the world for the Raiders. Lynch is a beloved figure in the NFL, but he really hasn’t been the same guy this year as he was in the past. His high rushing total of 76 yards came all the way back in week one, and he really doesn’t bring much to the table as a pass catcher, never catching more than one in a game this season. The Raiders backup running backs, Jalen Richard and Deandre Washington, will be just fine, if not better, for Derek Carr this week.
3. “Amari Cooper has been absolute trash until last week, wasn’t that just a mirage?”
No! Last week’s game was the real Amari Cooper. Although Michael Crabtree has been Carr’s preferred target the last year or so, Cooper is a dynamic, big-play threat. I expect to see more of the same this week.
4. “The Bills are good! They are 4-2!”
The Bills are.. OK. They play solid defense, and Tyrod Taylor finds ways to score. But after a hot start, they have looked mediocre, losing to a bad Bengals team and barely squeaking out a win against an average Buccaneers squad. My biggest worry for this best bet is LeSean McCoy. If McCoy busts out and can gash the Raider defense, it will be hard for Carr and co. to keep up.
5. “Doesn’t it worry you that it took a meltdown by the Chiefs and some of the craziest end of game officiating for the Raiders to win last week?”
Well… yeah. But guess what. Nobody believes in the Raiders! This is the week where I see the Oakland Raiders reestablishing themselves as a player in the AFC playoff race.
The pick: Oakland over Buffalo (-3)
