Jacksonville Jaguars at Oakland Raiders: betting odds, preview, trends, pick

Christian Petersen

Oakland is the NFL's worst team as a favorite over the past few seasons. In 21 recent games in their Week 7 role, they have covered only three spreads.

The Jacksonville Jaguars have won four straight games against the Oakland Raiders and will look to make it five straight when they visit the Raiders this Sunday at the O.co Coliseum.

Jacksonville is a 4-point underdog on the road at most sportsbooks and that fact spells immediate trouble for Oakland bettors, because it means they are favored.

"Whe the problem with the Raiders as chalk? Because they never cover the spread when they are favored," said Kevin Bradley, sportsbook manager at Bovada.

He's exaggerating slightly but Oakland is just 3-17-1 ATS in their past 21 games in this situation on the NFL point spread.

Heading into their bye week with a 1-4 SU and 2-3 ATS record last week, the Jaguars are one of those rare teams that actually seem to perform better on the road than they do at home.

Jacksonville has been outscored 95-20 and is 0-3 SU and ATS in three home games this year but is a respectable 1-1 SU and 2-0 ATS on the road with a close loss in overtime to Minnesota and an upset win over Indianapolis. The Jags hope that strong road trend continues this week at Oakland.

The Oakland Raiders are also off to a 1-4 SU and 2-3 ATS start. Going into Atlanta as a 10-point underdog, the Raiders played very well on both sides of the ball and actually outgained Atlanta 474 yards to 286, but fell short of an outright upset in the 23-20 loss.

For a defense that had given up an average of 463 yards and 34.3 points per game over its previous three games, the Raiders' strong defensive showing was a welcome change-of-pace to backers.

Jacksonville is a perfect 4-0 both SU and ATS in its last four games against Oakland. Their most recent meeting in 2010 resulted in a 38-31 Jacksonville win in which Maurice Jones-Drew rushed for 101 yards.

Bettors liked what they saw out of Oakland last week enough to make the Raiders a 4-point favorite this week, but Jacksonville coming in off of the bye should be able to keep this game close.

The Raiders still have plenty of holes in their secondary and have been inconsistent on offense this season; considering Jacksonville's strong road play this year and the extra week to prepare, we'll take the points in this spot.

PICK: Jacksonville +4 (courtesy of PickShark.com)