Two AFC teams trending in different directions will look to earn key wins at a crucial point in their respective seasons this week, with the Oakland Raiders and New York Jets each hosting teams that are below .500. While the Raiders look to build on last week’s win over the Houston Texans in their first home game since the passing of owner Al Davis, the Jets will look to avoid a fourth straight loss at home against the division rival Dolphins on NFL Monday Night Football.
Cleveland Browns @ Oakland Raiders (-6)
Sunday, 4:05 PM ET
The Raiders provided their fans with a memorable pay head comeback win a week ago, and return home looking to clinch one more with the chance to close on the San Diego Chargers for first in the AFC West. Oakland has channeled the traditional power running attack to start the season strong, with an average of 161.8 rushing yards per game good for the second-best mark in the NFL. If the Raiders are going to be a playoff team, they will need to be better on the defensive side of the ball, where they rank 22nd against the run and 29th against the pass. Cleveland comes in to this game off a bye week at .500 and looking to improve in several areas, but the potential for an upset here is slim with the Browns on the road for just the second sports betting time against an Oakland team looking to build some momentum. The Cleveland defense ranks fourth against the pass, but just 25th against the run with an average of 124.5 rushing yards against through their first four games.
NFL Betting Pick: Oakland Raiders - 6
Miami Dolphins @ New York Jets (-7)
Monday, 8:35 PM ET
While the Raiders will look to build off a big win, the Jets are hoping that they can get back in the win column after losing all three games of a season-high three-game road trip. New York has looked awful at times over that span, and hope that a return to East Rutherford will help them to end their slide. The problems for the Jets have reportedly carried over in to the locker room where some of the offensive players are unhappy with the play calling of offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, but a big win on the field should go a long way to ending all talk about pay per head tensions off the field. The seat isn’t nearly as hot for Schottenheimer at this point as it is Miami head coach Tony Sparano, who many consider fortunate to have kept his job through the bye week. Miami is winless through the first four games of the regular season and struggling on both sides of the ball. Dolphins’ fans are hoping that the extra week to prepare helps, but if it doesn’t then this could be the perfect game for the Jets to bounce back as Mark Sanchez and the offense looks to take off against Miami’s 31st ranked pass defense.
NFL Betting Picks: New York Jets - 7
