We are back from our bye-week hiatus with more picks for this week’s matchup against the Minnesota Vikings. In the Las Vegas Raiders’ last game, our gambling picks got hammered even worse than the Raiders did on the field against the Kansas City Chiefs. We missed on all three picks, falling to 10-26 for the season. After dropping three more units, we are down 16.53 on the year. This is getting expensive. Luckily, Hunter Renfrow could be coming to the rescue.
Nevertheless, we will continue to forge ahead this week with three more picks. All lines come via Draft Kings as of Friday evening. Let’s get into this week’s picks, starting with the best value pick of the week.
Best Value: Raiders Money Line (+136)
Let’s kick things off with a bold pick. We are taking the Raiders straight up. Picking the Raiders to win hasn’t gone too well this year, but there is plenty of reason for optimism this week.
Las Vegas is a very intriguing team coming out of their bye. The week off should give this revamped coaching staff time to really put their mark on things. Expect a few new wrinkles this week, especially on offense. It also helps that the Raiders should be a bit healthier than they were against Kansas City.
The Vikings are the perfect opponent for the refreshed Raiders to begin the stretch run with. Minnesota hasn’t won a game in almost a month. Quarterback Josh Dobbs has begun to show why he has been a backup for most of his career. The Vikings offense should struggle to do much against the Raiders.
Expect Las Vegas to come out strong and then coast on the defense and running game to a 24-17 win. At +136, the value is too good for a team coming off a bye, at home, and playing in what is, at worst, a toss-up. Take the Raiders to win outright.
Lock of the Week: Hunter Renfrow Over 2.5 Receptions (+105)
Back in October, we’d be talking about taking the under on this total. Nowadays, the over should be easy money. The Raiders slot receiver should have no problem catching three balls this week.
In the two games leading up to the bye, Hunter Renfrow saw the most action that he had all season. In that stretch, he had a combined nine catches on nine targets. Since Bo Hardegree has taken over the offense, there has been a clear effort to get Renfrow more involved. In all likelihood, we should see even more of Hardegree’s fingerprints on the offense coming out of the bye. That should bode well for Renfrow.
Given the way Renfrow’s targets have been trending as of late, betting on him to get three catches feels really safe. The +105 odds are just a bonus. Plus, there is reason to believe that the Raiders could end up throwing the ball a lot this week.
Long-Shot of the Week: Aidan O’Connell 275+ Yards Passing (+390)
I love this prop. It pairs great with our other picks. If the Raiders are going to win, they are probably going to have to air it out. There is plenty of reason to believe that they will.
Like we said before, expect to see a lot more of Hardegree’s influence on the Raiders’ offense this week. Remember, he is an Adam Gase disciple. That means he loves to toss the rock. The Raiders will likely need to do that anyway since Minnesota boasts the league’s seventh-best run defense.
The tricky part about this bet is the yardage. For it to hit, O’Connell will have to have the best game of his young career. That being said, there is reason to believe that he can do exactly that. Coming out of the bye, we should see the rookie more settled into the offense than ever before. He might even be due for his first 300-yard game. Nevertheless, this pick still hits as long as he beats his previous best of 271 by just four yards. At +390, why not bet on him to make it happen?
Bonus: Same-Game Parlay these picks at +1600
*Top Photo: The Sporting News
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