Sharp money moves line on Raiders-Buccaneers game
The Raiders blew a golden opportunity to beat the Chiefs on Black Friday, but easily covered the spread as 13½-point underdogs in their 19-17 loss.
Sharp bettors are banking on the Raiders to cover again as road underdogs Sunday at Tampa Bay.
The Buccaneers are consensus 6½-point favorites after the line opened as high as 7½.
“There’s no one betting the Raiders unless it’s a sharp guy at this point of the year,” Westgate SuperBook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said.
Tampa is a 7-point favorite at the Westgate and Circa Sports over the Raiders (2-10, 5-7 ATS), who are tied with the Giants and Jaguars for the NFL’s worst record.
The number dipped from 7 to 6½ at Station Sports.
“I’m surprised it went down a little bit,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “It was driven down by sharp or sophisticated play, but my guess is by the time these teams kick, we’re going to be huge Raiders fans on Sunday.”
The Raiders appeared poised to stun Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium for the second straight season when quarterback Aidan O’Connell spiked the ball at the Chiefs’ 32-yard line with 16 seconds left. But O’Connell botched the snap on the next play, and Kansas City recovered the fumble, dealing the Raiders their eighth straight defeat.
Despite the ugly ending, Salmons was impressed with the Raiders and O’Connell, who completed 23 of 35 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns.
“They looked great in that game. It was the best offense I’ve seen from the Raiders in eons,” he said. “Tampa is banged up in the secondary. If (O’Connell) plays the way he did last week, I don’t see any reason why the Raiders can’t score a bunch of points.”
The consensus total is 46. The Buccaneers and Raiders each has 8-4 over-under records, with Tampa Bay on a 7-2 over run and the Raiders on a 6-2 over run.
The Bucs (6-6, 7-5 ATS) escaped with a 26-23 overtime win over the Panthers last week when Carolina lost a fumble in field-goal range in the extra session. But Tampa, tied for first place in the NFC South with the Falcons, failed to cover as a 6½-point favorite, ending a three-game cover streak.
“Tampa is not a team I would trust laying points with,” Salmons said. “They don’t play that brand of football.”
Pro sports bettor Jeff Whitelaw said he would lean to the Raiders at +7, though he’s not wagering on the game.
“The Raiders seem to lose a lot of close games,” he said. “I don’t really think they’ll win the game, but I think it’ll be moderately close. Tampa doesn’t have a great defense.”
Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.