Big chance for Las Vegas to climb up the division standings
After a gutty win last Sunday, Week 5 is a chance for the Las Vegas Raiders to gain some early momentum in the AFC West standings via a matchup between two 2-2 teams with the Denver Broncos. Also, our Silver and Black Pride Pick’em competition is heating up with the first month of the season coming to a close.
To get things started, let’s take a look at the lines for the Raiders-Browns matchup, courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook, and make some picks.
Raiders vs. Broncos
[Lines below are as of October 2 at 12:00 p.m. PST]
- Spread: DEN -1.5
- O/U: 35.5
- DEN ML: -130
- LV ML: +110
Holder’s picks: DEN -1.5, Under 35.5 DEN ML
Had it not been for the Davante Adams trade drama, I’d be picking the Raiders to win this week. But here we are and Denver has a very good defense that currently ranks third in the NFL with just 13.8 points per game allowed. So, I’m not confident in Las Vegas’ ability to put up points given the offense’s struggles in the running game as last week’s performance was an outlier. Granted, Bo Nix and the Broncos’ offense haven’t been anything to speak of, hence the under pick, but at least they have some stability.
Pick’em Competition
Moving onto S&BP’s Pick’em competition, below is a look at how our writers have fared through two weeks.
- Ray Aspuria 40-24 (63%)
- Matt Holder 40-25 (62%)
- Bill Williamson 36-29 (55%)
To quote a great philosopher from my adolescence, Eminem, “Guess who’s back?”
It was a big week for me as I went 13-3 to close the gap on Ray, who owns a half-game lead after “forgetting” to pick one game last week. Some might say that’s awfully convenient of him seeing as that could be the difference between us being tied at the top of the standings and him having a slight lead, but I won’t bring that up…
Meanwhile, Bill had a solid performance with 10 winners, but he has some ground to make up after a tough start to the season.
Community Standings
1. nevadajohn 41-23
t-2. UncleRaider 40-24
t-2. Bodega Bay Raider 40-24
t-2. RaiderFan 40-24
t-2. Moon Pies por Todos 40-24
t-2. Running With the Night 40-24
t-7. Tyree for Prez 39-25
t-7. Passer Tucks Ball 39-25
t-7. Desair.711 39-25
t-7. Edgaredm08 39-25
t-7. dafe2cat 39-25
Week 4 Top Pickers
Kal El Is A Raider 12-4
NC Hell Razors 12-4
UncleRaider 12-4
RaiderRich25 12-4
We have a new leader as nevadajohn takes the top spot with 10 correct picks to Running With the Night’s (last week’s leader) eight. That being said, we have 16 people who are within three picks of nevadajohn so it is still anyone’s game at this point.
Shout out ot our top pickers for this week as three out of four are new names who haven’t quite cracked to the leaderboard yet. UncleRaider is the biggest winner of the week though, moving into a tie for second place with 12 winners.
We’re hitting bye weeks this weekend so there will be fewer opportunities to climb up the leaderboard for the next few months. Remember to get your picks in this week. Best of luck and may your picks be good.
