Raiders Face Long Uphill Battle Beginning With Bengals In Season Opener
By Abraham Gutierrez
When the Oakland Raiders make their home debut Sunday afternoon against the Cincinnati Bengals, they will have an uphill battle to climb in the eyes of 2015 NFL Week 1 oddsmakers. It seems that despite all the improvements made to the Silver and Black’s roster during the offseason, NFL picks specialists simply do not believe this team has what it takes to compete against the NFL’s upper echelon.
This notion is evident by the fact that Oakland comes into this week’s contest as home underdogs in Jack Del Rio’s debut as the 20th head coach of this storied franchise. As of Thursday morning, NFL Week 1 point spreads give the Raiders a small cushion of three-and-a-half (3½) points, while the Bengals (+3½) will have to win by at least a field goal and a point-after in order to yield a winning ATS bet.
Historically, these franchises have met a total of 29 times during a stretch that dates all the way back to the 1968 AFL season. It may come as a bit of a surprise that the Raiders hold a commanding 20-9 lead over the Bengals in their head-to-head series, including a 14-6 record in their last 20 games played.
However, it’s been almost three years since Oaktown and Cincy have battled it out on the gridiron. In fact, their last meeting took place on November 25, 2012, at Paul Brown Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio, when the felines came away with a resounding 34-10 victory. Since then, Cincinnati has made the playoffs every year, while Oakland has been kept out of postseason play since being demolished by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (48-21) in Super Bowl XXXVII.
“We are changing the mindset, the culture, because as a football team, in order to do the things that we have on our plan, you have to operate a certain way and we’re operating that way, and we're learning what it looks like,” said Del Rio. “So I believe in that. I believe that the guys here really want to win.”
From an ATS standpoint, there are some interesting statistics to consider before deciding which team is best equipped to cover the spread. For starters, it’s worth noting that Oakland is 6-3-1 in their last 10 ATS games against the Bengals, and the home team is also 5-1 ATS in their last six head-to-head games.
However, as mentioned above, those games took place between 1991 and 2012, which pretty much makes those figures seem like ancient history. From an individual standpoint, through, it’s important to point out that Cincinnati comes in with an ATS record of 7-1-2 in their last 10 games in September, while Oakland has struggled on grass, sporting a 5-11 mark on its last 16 games on that surface.
Earlier in the week, a “Madden NFL 16” (computer vs. computer) simulation determined that the Raiders would upset the Bengals, 17-13 on an 80-yard pass from quarterback Derek Carr to ultra-speedy rookie wideout Amari Cooper as time expired. Does that mean Cincinnati should be on “Upset Alert”? One wouldn’t go that far. Truth is that, the Raiders are such a young team that anything can happen on any given Sunday.
Inconsistencies are one of the main characteristics of a young ball club, which means that Oakland could start the season with a shocker over Cincinnati, as easily as it could get blown out. In the end, however, the smart money is still on the Bengals to cover the spread at -3.5.
Abe Gutierrez's passion led him to ditch law school journey in order to launch his own publishing company. His expertise make him a valued addition to Examiner.com, AXS.com and the CBS-Sports family. Some of his work can be found on CBS-Miami (Dolphins), CBS-LosAngeles (Chargers) and CBS-TampaBay (Buccaneers), AXS.com, aExaminer.com. and other online publications.
