Conor Orr is out on a limb by himself this week. The Sports Illustrated writer picked the Las Vegas Raiders to beat the Buffalo Bills Sunday at Allegiant Stadium, while seven of his SI colleagues, including Albert Breer, went with Buffalo.
Orr is also the only expert in this roundup who has the Raiders winning outright. Every other straight-up pick goes to the Bills, and even the Raiders Wire staff went 5-0 for Buffalo, with an average final score of 32-24.
The scores give Raiders fans a small reason to smile, since nearly every prediction has Las Vegas scoring at least 21 points. However, the doubts start on defense, where the Raiders have to find a way to slow down Josh Allen.
Pete Prisco and Mike Florio both see a Bills win
CBS Sports’ Pete Prisco has the Bills winning 35-21 and expects a better
showing from the Raiders’ offense than the 45-17 loss in New England.
“The Raiders were awful against the Pats, but they will play better on offense here,” Prisco wrote. “They just won’t stop the Bills.”
Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio has the Bills beating the Raiders 30-24, expecting Las Vegas to come back down to earth while Buffalo builds on its overtime win against the Los Angeles Rams.
“The Raiders are gliding back to earth, and the Bills are coming into their own,” Florio wrote.
Sam Farmer of the Los Angeles Times went 33-24 and wants more from the Raiders’ receivers.
“Buffalo’s secondary is weak, but Las Vegas doesn’t have enough beyond Brock Bowers to exploit it,” Farmer wrote.
ESPN and NFL.com keep the scores within reach
ESPN’s Pamela Maldonado (31-24), Eric Moody (34-24) and Seth Walder (30-19) all picked Buffalo in the network’s Week 6 guide, and ESPN’s Football Power Index gives the Bills a 72% chance to win.
All five NFL.com editors also picked the Bills, with scores ranging from Bobby Kownack’s 35-24 to Brooke Cersosimo’s 26-21.
The spread is where the Raiders find some friends
A handful of experts believe the Raiders can lose and still keep it close. Las Vegas was an underdog against New England last week, too. CBS Sports’ Dave Richard and Jamey Eisenberg took Las Vegas against the spread, as did Athlon Sports’ Doug Farrar and Bleacher Report’s Maurice Moton, who expects a bounce-back game at home.
“The Raiders no-showed on their East Coast trip last week, but that may be a blip rather than the start of a trend,” Moton wrote.
FanSided’s Cody Williams picked the Bills to win but couldn’t pass up the points.
“5.5 points is a bit too many, so we’ll take the Raiders against the spread and pray,” Williams wrote.
The line can change before kickoff, so anyone following his lead needs to check how many points are on offer. The Raiders do not have to win outright for his pick to work.
The computers side with Buffalo too
Dimers gives the Bills a 72.3% chance to win with a 29-22 projection, and the Covers AI model has Buffalo winning 30-20.
A shootout might not save the Raiders, either. Buffalo has won both road games this season despite allowing 31 points to Houston and 34 to the Rams. Scoring in the 30s has not been enough to beat the Bills away from home.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders vs. Bills expert picks nearly unanimous, with just one holdout
