Raiders Face Cowboys to Kick off Big AFC West Weekend
The Oakland Raiders get a big week in the AFC West started on Thanksgiving Day as they will visit the Dallas Cowboys in a game with playoff implications. Every team in the West is still in the playoff hunt, although another loss for the Raiders would put them in serious trouble. Oakland is 4-7, one game behind in the race for the final AFC playoff spot. To lose another game on Thursday would really hurt because there are six teams in front of them at 5-6. With the Baltimore Ravens and Pittsburgh Steelers facing each other later that day and the Miami Dolphins visiting the New York Jets on Sunday, at least two teams will be 6-6 after the weekend is over.
This game is also a gig one for the Cowboys as they now are in a tight battle with the surging Philadelphia Eagles for the top spot in the NFC East. The Eagles and Cowboys are each 6-5 and are a game out of the NFC Wild Card race.
In this week’s biggest game in the AFC West, the Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs will do battle for the top spot and the loser will be kicked back into the Wild Card race. The Broncos come in limping after blowing a 24 point lead last week to the New England Patriots. The Chiefs also come in with their tails between their legs after losing their second straight game, allowing 41 points to the 5-6 San Diego Chargers, who find themselves in the thick of the race as well. The winner of Broncos-Chiefs is still in the top spot in the AFC and is looking at possibly not leaving home for the playoffs while the loser is looking at nothing but road games. This is especially true if the Chiefs lose as they will have been swept in the season series and therefore Denver would have the tie-breaker.
The Chargers are hosting the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday in another big AFC game. In fact, every AFC game has playoff implications as the only teams out of the race are the Houston Texans and Jacksonville Jaguars. Everyone else is still in the running.
Bookmaker has the odds on these games:
Oakland at Dallas- The Raiders are +9.5 -110 while the Cowboys are -9.5 -110 ATS. Moneyline is +355 on the Raiders and –450 on Dallas. Over/Under is 46.5 with both -110. We like the Raiders to beat the spread in this one but Dallas to win, although we do realize that when Dallas is a game over .500 they are almost a lock to lose. So with this in mind, just bet Oakland +9.5 and leave the moneyline alone. We also like the over -110.
Denver at Kansas City– The Broncos are -4.5 -110 and the Chiefs are +4.5 -110 ATS. No moneyline as of yet on this one. O/U is 48.5. We say bet heavy on the over-110 on this one. Also take the Chiefs at home +4.5.
Cincinnati at San Diego– The Bengals are +2 -113 and the Chargers are -2 -107 ATS. There is no moneyline as of yet. O/U is 49.5 with over -102 and under -118. We are going to go with the Bengals +2 -113 and the under -118 on this one.
