It looks as if we have a real contrast in styles on Sunday afternoon in the NFL, as the Oakland Raiders, who are first in the league in yards gained per drive and last in the league in yards ALLOWED per drive, go up against the Tennessee Titans, who are of a much more conservative bent. Who will prevail in this one? Well, the Raiders are traveling from out west for a 1 PM ET starting time at Nissan Stadium in Nashville. It’ll be televised regionally on CBS, and BetAnySports customers will have the opportunity to place their wagers in real time even after the opening kickoff, as they take advantage of the state-of-the-art software available through Live Betting Ultra.
Oakland has scored 63 points in the first two games, but they allowed 69 as well. To some people, this may be a bit surprising, as Jack Del Rio, their head coach, has been a defensive coordinator of considerable reputation.
What Raider fans were hoping for is coming to fruition, in a sense, as a moribund offense has come alive. Oakland has a committee of running backs, but Latavius Murray is the guy who will be looked upon to carry the load. And they field an impressive pair of wide receivers in Amari Cooper, the second-year man who looks like he’s going to be part of the NFL’s elite, and veteran Michael Crabtree, who works better on the short routes. Derek Carr was originally a second-round draft choice, and he is starting to put up the big numbers as well; he has not been intercepted get the first two games, and is taken only one quarterback sack, and he is averaging 7.4 yards per attempt, which indicates that he is getting the ball downfield a lot better.
In the NFL betting odds posted on this game by the people at BetAnySports, the Raiders are the slight favorites:
Oakland Raiders -1.5
Tennessee Titans +1.5
Over 47 points -110
Under 47 points -110
The mission for the Titans, right from the beginning of training camp, has been simple – run the football and control the clock, and let an improved defense handle the rest. All indications are that Dick LeBeau, who spent years as the defensive coordinator in Pittsburgh and is enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame, has started to really turn things around on the stop unit, which is allowed only one touchdown from scrimmage thus far.
Rookie Tajae Sharpe has been a nice revelation, especially as he was a fifth-round draft pick this year, but the bread and butter of the Tennessee offense, aside from the running attack, is to go short with the passes. Marcus Marriota, who is still a work in progress, has connected with tight end Delanie Walker nine times, and running backs Derrick Henry and DeMarco Murray have caught 15 passes between them.
Clearly this is not the kind of offensive attack that is going to overwhelm the Raiders, and Mariota, even though he is a Heisman Trophy winner, is not the kind of prolific passer Oakland faced in his first two games, like Drew Brees or Matt Ryan. So there is a good chance that the Raiders will not allow more than 500 yards, which is exactly what they have done in their first two games.
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