Sharp money shows on Raiders-Lions ‘Monday Night Football’ game

Anemic is defined as lacking force, vitality or spirit.

The word is an apt description of the Raiders’ offense so far this season.

The Raiders rank No. 30 of 32 NFL teams in scoring, averaging a paltry 16.0 points per game. They’ve topped 20 points only once, thanks to a late safety in a 21-17 win and cover over the Patriots.

They have gone under the total in five of their seven games. But a sharp sports betting syndicate at the Westgate SuperBook wagered on the Raiders-Lions “Monday Night Football” game to go over 45 points. The consensus total is now 46.

“Detroit will score against the Raiders,” SuperBook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said. “If the Raiders score 20 points, it’s definitely going to be an over game. It seems like they’ll have a decent shot at that. I expect to see the Raiders give a better effort than last week.”

Jimmy Garoppolo returned to practice for the Raiders on Thursday after missing Sunday’s 30-12 loss to the Bears, and the veteran quarterback is expected to start at Detroit.

The Lions are consensus 8-point favorites after the line dipped from 8½ when Garoppolo returned to practice.

After the Raiders won and covered two straight to improve to 3-3 straight-up and against the spread, they were blown out at Chicago, which entered the game at 1-5.

“The Raiders lost to an undermanned, young, inexperienced, bad Bears team and got dominated by that team,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “Bettors have continued to back them. But, clearly, I think this is one of the games we might be Raiders fans for one of the first times this year.

“Just because they’re playing such a good team and the Lions are at home on a Monday night. My guess is they’ll get a lot of backing against the Raiders.”

Detroit (5-2, 5-2 ATS, 4-3 over-under), which last hosted a “Monday Night Football” game in 2018, won and covered five of its first six games this season before getting whipped 38-6 by the Ravens last week in their second straight road game.

“It seems like this is a spot where the Lions can get healthy and bounce back. I think (coach) Dan Campbell will have his team ready to go,” Caesars Sportsbook assistant director of trading Adam Pullen said. “It looks like the Raiders are up against it. The Lions seem more capable of bouncing back than other teams.

“Even though we’re in Las Vegas, we’re going to need the Raiders pretty heavily on Monday night.”

The Lions have covered seven of their last eight games at home and are riding a 14-3 ATS run overall. The Raiders are on a 1-5 spread skid on the road.

Professional sports bettor Jeff Whitelaw expects Detroit to deal the Raiders a lopsided loss.

“I think it’s a blowout,” he said.

Whitelaw noted that in the Raiders’ losses to the Bills and Chargers — the two highest-scoring teams on their schedule so far — they gave up 38 points to Buffalo and 24 to Los Angeles.

The Lions rank eighth in the NFL in scoring with 24.9 ppg.

“The Lions are a very good offensive team, and the Raiders are going to give up a lot of points to them as well,” he said. “The Lions are coming off a loss, and they are certainly going to be motivated.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.