The Seattle Seahawks are hitting the road for the first time in a month to renew their former AFC West rivalry with the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday for another must-win game. Seattle enters the game as 6.5-point favorites on the road, their second straight week being favored by FanDuel Sportsbook.
While the Seahawks are large favorites, they’ll depend on their dominant defense to get the job done yet again as their inconsistent offense is still quite injured. Seattle’s “Dark Side” defense will welcome
the Raiders’ first overall pick, Fernando Mendoza, to the NFL and hope to slow Klint Kubiak’s offense, which is averaging 26.4 points per game.
Here are four bets/game picks to consider ahead of Sunday’s game.
1. Jadarian Price anytime touchdown (+190)
While Seattle’s rookie running back has battled injuries this season, it’s still hard to believe that he’s yet to find the end zone. Price has shown the most juice of any Seahawks running back and emerged as a receiving threat last week against the Cardinals.
With Seahawks quarterback Drew Lock still hampered by injuries, Price is likely to get a lot of work in the passing and running game against a struggling Raiders defense. Las Vegas’ defense has allowed large receiving days to running backs this season, with the worst coming against the Buffalo Bills when back James Cook totaled 58 yards on three catches.
While it might be hard to envision betting on the Seahawks offense after they only hung 17 on the Cardinals, a second week with Lock as the leading man should lead to a more complete game plan, allowing them to score and make a statement.
2. Maxx Crosby to record a sack (+144)
With Charles Cross out and Abe Lucas struggling this season, there’s a near guarantee that the Raiders’ star pass rusher will be active in the Seahawks backfield on Sunday. Crosby leads the Raiders with four sacks, and while he hasn’t quite been in game-wrecking self this season, he shouldn’t need to be to get home against an injured Lock.
3. Jaxon Smith-Njigba over 89.5 receiving yards (-114)
Coming off his quietest outing of the year, there’s no question that Smith-Njigba should be more involved with the Seahawks offense this week. JSN has totaled over 100 yards in all, but two of his games this season and has padded his total against poor secondaries, which should include Las Vegas’ unit.
While I already mentioned this in the Price prop, I’ll say it again: the Raiders’ defense is not good. Las Vegas secondary gives up an average of 234 passing yards per game, one of the worst marks in the league. Even though Lock is still dealing with an injury, JSN should be so open on Sunday he’ll only need half an arm to get it to him.
4. Seahawks -6.5 (-110)
Seattle head coach Mike Macdonald is undefeated against quarterbacks making their first start, and there’s no reason this game should be different. Mendoza has limited reps as a starter and is getting thrown to the wolves against a Seahawks defense that is riding high after holding an NFC West rival to just three points last week.
Lock and the Seahawks’ offense may struggle early, but there is simply too much star power for the Raiders defense to handle. Las Vegas’ defense has thrived on turnovers, so Seattle will need another turnover-free game from Lock and Price like they got last week. If the Seahawks’ offense can stay clean there’s no doubt the defense will handle Mendoza and allow the Seahawks to handle the Raiders with ease.
Final prediction: Seahawks 31, Raiders 17
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