Cleveland at Las Vegas

I know, I know. Making this pick will make you sick to your stomach. Are we really backing the Raiders? Yes. They have become the laughing stock of the league after two horrible showings. They lost 0-27 to San Diego in week one on national TV and then 6-28 to Baltimore in week two. But are they that bad? They are certainly one of the league's weakest teams but maybe not as bad as people think. For one, we have since learned that San Diego and Baltimore are pretty good. The Chargers top most NFL power ratings and the Ravens aren't far behind. Both are top 5 teams right now. And, in the loss to the Ravens, Oakland had six turnovers so a 28-6 loss is not unexpected. Aaaron Brooks has looked horrible so his replacement by Andrew Walter can't make things worse. Maybe it will actually spark this offense. And, the Raiders have had two weeks to prepare him and fix their issues. They desparately need a win here and will be ready. Forgive me but I am not yet ready to pronounce the 0-3 Cleveland Browns worthy of being a road favorite - regardless of their opponent. Cleveland is third-worst in the league in offense (258 yards per game). Winless dogs off their bye are a 67% proposition in the NFl against the spread. And, underdogs off a horrible performance are also good bets - classic contrarian. Here we get a team off two terrible performances as a home underdog to an 0-3 team that is not very good. I look for the Raiders to likely notch their first win of the season here in a good spot for them. Getting a field goal on them is even better.