The Raiders were 7-9 last season, yet somehow they are expected to win on the road in a season opener without a preseason? If you assume the home team usually gets three points then they really think the Raiders are six or seven points better than the Panthers. Okay, I guess that makes sense somewhere. From Bovada.com
I admit I can see the Raiders running the ball a lot. That is job one for the Panthers defense who is minus middle linebacker Luke Kuechly. I still can’t believe he retired, but let’s not go down that rabbit hole. Even without Kuechly I think the run defense can be better with the healthy big men up front. So if I was betting I would take the 3.5 points and the home team.
On the over/under of 47.5 I like the under simply because of no preseason. I think offense will be down across the league. Also no matter how Week 1 goes, don’t read too much into it. There will be a couple surprise teams that lose in week one but rebound later.
Prediction: Panthers 23 Raiders 20
So what is your prediction?