NFL Betting Picks: New York Jets at Oakland Raiders

Added on Sep 24, 2011 by Jack Thurman in

NFL

AFC action on Sunday as the New York Jets make the long trip west to take on the Oakland Raiders. Oakland is 1-1 SU on the season but has cashed tickets for NFL betting enthusiasts in both games. The Jets are 2-0 but only 1-1 against the pointspread.

New York Jets at Oakland Raiders
September 25, 2011 4:05 PM Pacific

Classic case of a side underrated by the general public getting points at home against a team overrated by the ‘squares’. Oakland is perceived to be a team that is still ‘in the toilet’ and they admitedly suffered a second half meltdown against Buffalo last week. The reality, however, is that they’ve got a very good defensive front that should be able to put a lot of pressure on Jets’ quarterback Mark Sanchez. The Jets have a big injury problem that doesn’t get the attention that it should–All Pro center Nick Mangold is out and anyone who knows anything about football knows that the center is a highly important position.

On the other side of the ball, the Raiders also have an edge. The Jets get a lot of love for their rushing game but they enter this contest ranked #28 in the NFL in rushing offense. The Raiders, meanwhile, have one the the best–and most underrated–running backs in the league in Darren McFadden. McFadden’s biggest issue is playing in a secondary media market–he’s as good as they come. We don’t give the Jets a huge edge at quarterback either–Jason Campbell may not be an elite level signal caller but he’s a solid pro and not a significant step down qualitatively from Mark Sanchez.

From a betting standpoint, this is a great opportunity to play against erroneous public perception that has been overcompensated for in the pointspread. There’s not many +3′ prices out there, which isn’t surprising given the importance of 3 as a key number. By game time, those could be in short supply as well. Obviously you want to cover the key number with the Raiders but in our view it won’t come into play and Oakland will win this game outright. The talking heads in the mainstream sports media will act like its a huge upset but it won’t be.

Bet Oakland Raiders +3 over New York Jets