By Dr. Vegas
This game kicks off at 1pm ET at Ralph Wilson Stadium. The 1-1 Raiders travel to 2-0 Buffalo, where the Bills are 9.5-point favorites. Coming into this game, the Bills are 2-0 ATS, while Oakland is 1-1 against the number. The Raiders finished 6-10 ATS last year, while Buffalo managed a 9-6-1 mark.
Taking a look at the early Dr. Vegas power ratings for this season, we have Buffalo with a +44 and their opponents with -14.6. Obviously with only two games, the ratings this early are a bit exaggerated. Yet they won two games they were supposed to struggle with. In week one, they handily beat Seattle in a game they were only favored to win by 1.5. They came back as 4.5-point dogs against the Jaguars and won outright. They’ve scored the most points in the AFC East so far this year.
Oakland was destroyed in week 1 by Denver. They were a small dog of +3, but lost by more than 3 TD’s. The good news is that they bounced back the following week, coming in as 3.5-point dogs, yet winning outright against their bitter rivals in Kansas City. Of course the Chiefs are coming off a 4-12 season and have started off 2-0 so far this year, making that a little less impressive. The Raiders’ early Dr. Vegas power ratings, we see Oakland at -2.8, and their opponents are at +7.8. The power rating swing between these two teams is huge, but they are still early and can only be taken with a grain of salt.
The bottom line is that Buffalo is surging, and looking to their first 3-0 start since the early 1990’s. They’ll almost certainly get it, too. From a capping standpoint, it’s more important to see if they hit 3-0 against the number. Nine points is a lot.
Free pick from Dr. Vegas: Take Buffalo -9 over Oakland