Las Vegas Raiders vs Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Oakland Raiders have come to life. At 5-2 through their first seven games, they are starting to look like a playoff team for the first time since 2002, which is the last time they posted a winning record. The big advantage in this game belongs to the Raiders passing attack, with Amari Cooper, and Michael Crabtree. The Buccaneers secondary has been torched by competent passing games, and would expect no different here. Jameis Winston is still a work in progress. He looks good at times, and his inexperience shines through at others, and overall the Bucs are turning the ball over an average of twice per game. The one thing that is lacking on this team is consistency. Tampa Bay looks good doing some things one week, and looks bad doing them the next. It is where this Raider team has changed, at least on offense, and that is where the biggest and most consistent threat comes from in this contest. The Bucs have another issue, as the last time they had a winning record at home was back in 2008. They are just 17-39 SU at home and 0-2 SU this year. They are also 18-37-1 ATS here in their last 56 games. Take Oakland.

Both the Oakland Raiders and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers enter this game at 3-4. The winner will reach the halfway point with a .500 record and will probably feel a sense of accomplishment. The Raiders have won two straight, but wins over Jacksonville and Kansas City (which have two wins between them) doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Tampa Bay is coming off a huge road win on Monday night at Minnesota. The Bucs have played a much tougher schedule, and have been competitive in every game with their biggest loss just 7 points. This team has come light years from where they were a year ago where they lost all of them by an average of 23 points per game. This isn't exactly a game that is in the Oakland sweet spot, as the Raiders have been futile in anticipated close games. Since 2003 they are a pathetic 6-26 ATS at home from -3.5 to +3.5. And, since this team was good (2002), the Raiders are awful as a favorite, going just 9-27 ATS! Tampa Bay should get a bump from their big Monday win as teams that win on Monday Night football by more than 17 points are 68-40 ATS in their next game. Take the Bucs here.