Raiders vs. Rams Preseason Prediction
The Oakland Raiders opened as an underdog for Saturday’s preseason matchup with the L.A. Rams but are now favored on the road. Will the Raiders cover the spread?
Game Snapshot
419 Oakland Raiders at 420 Los Angeles Rams
4:00 p.m. ET, Saturday, August 18, 2018
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, CA
Public Betting Trends
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetNow.eu, the Raiders are 3-point favorites to beat the Rams. The total, meanwhile, sits at 39 points. As of this writing, 55% of the public betting tickets are on the Rams to cover the point spread.
Oakland Raiders
Raiders coach Jon Gruden believes Derek Carr has already “mastered” his offense.
“I think he’s one of the best, in terms of processing information,” Gruden said of his quarterback. “He wants more… ‘What do we have today? … He has a photographic memory. It comes so easy to him. He’s got the offense mastered more than I do.” Beat writer Scott Bair says this is “evident” in practice. They’re just words, but considering Gruden has returned to the NFL playing up his reputation as an old-school, hard-nosed coach, it’s certainly notable he’s already heaping such praise on his quarterback.
Los Angeles Rams
Rams coach Sean McVay said the team has “increased dialogue” with holdout Aaron Donald. “We feel positive about the direction that these things are going,” said McVay at Saturday’s practice. “I think there’s a level of urgency that’s being displayed from us.” The Rams threw gobs of money at Todd Gurley, Ndamukong Suh and Brandin Cooks this offseason but the reigning Defensive Player of the Year is still looking for his big payday and is willing to sit out as long as it takes to make it happen. Anything short of being the highest-paid defender in football would likely be a non-starter for Donald as he enters the final year of his rookie deal.
NFL Betting Trends
Oakland
The Raiders are 3-9-2 against the spread in their last 14 games dating back to last season.
Los Angeles
The Rams are just 4-11-1 against the number in their last 16 home games.
Prediction
The Rams failed to generate much offense last week and the Raiders have every incentive to put together a successful preseason to build some hype around new head coach Jon Gruden. If you can figure out which teams are most motivated in preseason, you can have success as a bettor. I like Oakland in this spot.
NFL Preseason Prediction: Oakland Raiders -3