The Rams and Raiders meet on Thursday Night Football tonight to kick off Week 14 in the NFL! The visiting Raiders come into So-Fi Stadium as 6.5-point favorites while the over/under is currently set at 41.5 points.
THE TEAMS
The Raiders
Don’t look now, but the Las Vegas Raiders are quietly creeping back into the AFC playoff race. Winners of three straight against the Broncos, Seahawks and Chargers, the team is now 5-7 and just two games out of a wild card position. Although the defence remains problematic, the Vegas offence has been clicking recently and has scored 89 points in the last three weeks.
Tonight, expect the league’s leading rusher Josh Jacobs to see a lot of opportunities despite a lingering quad issue. Jacobs has shined all season and has over 25 touches in each of the team’s last four games. In the pass game, Davante Adams will be the focus as always. He does have a tough matchup tonight with Jalen Ramsey on defence, but the targets will come regardless.
The Rams
The Rams could very easily end up with the worst record in a season following a Super Bowl win. So, yea, the Lombardi hangover has been real this year. Although the struggles were less understandable at the beginning of the season, the losses are making a lot of sense at this point. With Stafford, Kupp and Robinson out for the year and Henderson no longer with the team, the offence is made up of career back-ups, many of whom have little to no playing experience. Tonight, they may even start Baker Mayfield, who was signed off waivers just two days ago.
For tonight’s game, they’ll look to hang around and let their defence do most of the work. When they have the ball, expect Cam Akers to get a lot of touches as well as reciever Tutu Atwell, who had six touches last week in the loss to Seattle. It won’t be pretty, but if the defence can deliver a great performance and Sean McVay gets a little creative on offence, the Rams do have a chance.
Rams and Raiders – THE PICK
With the Raiders surging lately and the Rams going in the opposite direction, tonight’s game could get out of hand. Baker Mayfield barely knows the offence and the team doesn’t have much to play for, while the Raiders are still clawing back in the AFC playoff race. We’ll take Vegas to cover the spread tonight.
RAIDERS – 6.5
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