Don’t look now, but the Las Vegas Raiders are in first place in the AFC West! Sure, it’s only been one game. However, the Raiders head into Week 2 at 1-0, while the Los Angeles Chargers are in dire need of a bounce-back performance after getting embarrassed during the season opener. Also, we get a first look at the standings for Silver and Black Pride’s pick’em competition.
On that note, let’s get to the picks!
Raiders vs. Chargers
Odds below are provided by FanDuel Sportsbook and are subject to change.
- Spread: LAC -6.5
- O/U: 43.5
- LAC ML: -310
- LV ML: +250
Holder’s picks:
LV +6.5, Under 43.5, LAC ML
I’m hedging here because these two teams looked completely different than what most people expected heading into the season. The Raiders looked like a well-oiled machine in head coach Klint Kubiak’s first game, while the Chargers had all sorts of problems with veteran coach Jim Harbaugh leading the charge. However, Las Vegas was favored against Miami, and Week 1 can be funky (i.e., the Raiders beating the eventual AFC Champion Patriots last year). So, it feels like taking the Silver and Black with the points while the Bolts win outright is the safest bet.
Pick’em Competition
Moving on to S&BP’s Pick’em competition, below is a look at how our writers finished last week.
- Bill Williamson 11-5 (69%)
- Ray Aspuria 11-5 (69%)
- Matt Holder 9-7 (56%)
Not a great showing from me, as Ray and Bill pulled out to an early two-game lead. The difference came down to the strip-sack that wasn’t in the Saints-Lions game (I had New Orleans, thanks NFL officiating!) and me thinking the Texans’ defense wouldn’t give up 36 points to the Bills’ offense. I whiffed on the latter, but the only person madder than me about the former is Kellen Moore. So, it’s back to the drawing board as I have some ground to cover in Week 2.
Community Standings
t-1. Knoxian 13
t-1. Mooniac 13
t-3. Edgaredm08 12
t-3. TV Raider 12
t-3. radrntn 12
t-3. DeathStar dj 12
t-3. Hot Mo 12
t-3. Running With the Night 12
t-3. Snake12 12
Week 1 Top Pickers
It’s been one week; see above!
A big shoutout to our community with nine people getting at least 75 percent of last week’s games correct. That’s hard to do with so many unknowns in Week 1. Also, we have some new blood at the top of the standings. Mooniac has been in the competition for years (he helps me run it so I don’t take a spot from y’all in the Yahoo! group) and is typically on the fringe of the top 10. Meanwhile, I don’t recognize Knoxian’s username, so we have another first-team leader, to my knowledge.
Keep up the good work and best of luck on your picks!
In case this doesn’t change: Tallysight has been having some issues, which is why it only has Bill’s picks for Thursday night below. We’re looking into getting that fixed moving forward.
