Oakland Raiders vs. New York Jets Pick 11/24/19

Oakland Raiders (6-4 SU, 6-4 ATS) vs. New York Jets (3-7 SU, 4-6 ATS)

NFL Week 12

Date/Time: Sunday, November 24, 2019 at 1PM EST

Where: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

TV: CBS

Point Spread: OAK -3/NYJ +3 (Intertops – Deposit $20 and get $20 FREE!)

Over/Under Total: 45.5

The Oakland Raiders come into MetLife on Sunday to take on the New York Jets. Both teams are coming off a fruitful week 11. The Raiders won their third straight and at 6-4, might have a future following a 17-10 win over Cincinnati. They didn’t shine against the winless Bengals, but getting the win is what’s important. The Jets won their second in a row with a 34-17 road-win over the Redskins. Now at home and on a little roll after some major letdowns this season, they look to at least put together a strong finish to the year.

Both Teams Hitting Their Stride

After covering five of six spreads, a lukewarm win over the Bengals wasn’t a great reflection on the Raiders last week, but they’ve been otherwise pretty crisp on both sides of the ball. The offense didn’t really get untracked in Week 11, but we see some good things from Derek Carr, who is completing 72% of his throws and looks to make life hard on a beleaguered Jets’ secondary. Between Darren Waller, Tyrell Williams, Hunter Renfrow, and backs Josh Jacobs and Jalen Richard, that’s a lot of targets to pit against the substandard Jets’ pass-defense.

But the Jets can also boast of some recent success where things are starting to pop on both sides of the ball. With 34 points scored in consecutive games, Sam Darnold and the Jets’ offense has started to cook a little. For a team that has seen their offense stagnate most of the season, it’s been a bonanza, and Darnold had four TDs last week. A suddenly-shining offense has their defense standing out more, as they have some strong suits of their own that could work on Oakland, namely a sterling run-defense.

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Why it Will Be Hard to Derail Oakland

Granted at 1-3 on the road, there has been a road/home chasm for the Raiders in 2019. Nevertheless, it’s been impressive how they responded to adversity this season. With Gruden rallying the troops through all kinds of personnel issues and in their last season in Oakland, they seem to be a team on a mission. And with an easy schedule, there is no reason why they shouldn’t make this work after how far they had to come to get to this spot.

For an Oakland defense that hasn’t been able to get much right for years, the signs of progress are in place, both from a stoutness standpoint, but also a playmaking one. Only once in the last seven games has an opponent scored more than in the 20s, and they’ve allowed a total of 34 points in the previous two games. They’re getting some pass rush from a surging Maxx Crosby, which could menace a troubled Jets’ O-line that has both of their tackles banged up now. An opportunistic defense could take advantage of a mistake-prone Darnold-run Jets offense. Sure, the Jets’ offense has been thriving lately, but in beating the Giants and Redskins, they are going against sideways football operations. Will we see them revert to form against a forward-moving team like Oakland?

How the Raiders’ Offensive Balance Will Play off the Jets “D”

The Jets’ defense is pretty strong up-front. They might not make a ton of plays, but they are the top rushing defense in the league heading into week 12. They get some pass-rush from Jordan Jenkins, Blake Cashman, and strangely, team sack-leader S Jamal Adams. But it’s not a group that has been very clutch, primarily because of a pass-defense that can be leaky in certain spots. They have scored four touchdowns and at home, can be expected to be a little tougher than they are on the road.

The Raiders, however, are not limited to one thing on offense. They can air it out a little bit, work the short pass-game, while also running the ball with aplomb—courtesy of blooming rookie Josh Jacobs. He might run into some resistance this week, but maybe not entirely, and he should be able to catch some passes at least, as will the entire Raiders’ aerial corps. Not that it will necessarily play out according to the script, but it would appear the bankability of Oakland’s offense here surpasses that of their opponent by a fair margin.

Pausing for Caution

When betting on improving, yet still imperfect teams like Oakland, you will sometimes look up and see a score that you didn’t expect to see. It’s only fair to say the Jets’ offense has, in fact, looked better. With Le’Veon Bell, Jamison Crowder, Robby Anderson, Demaryius Thomas, and Ryan Griffin, Darnold has a lot of targets he can spray the ball around to. The Oakland secondary has plenty of issues of their own, despite a recent uptick in that area. It’s just that the Raiders might need to put up some points, as there are some matchup components the Jets’ offense can exploit in this game.

Take the Road Favorite

While it’s only against a 3-7 team, this game is an important fork in the road for the Raiders, as 7-4 beats 6-5 by a lot at this point in the season. Losing to the Jets would be the kind of thing that might signal that the Raiders aren’t quite up-to-snuff yet. And they don’t want that after how hard they had to work to get here. I actually think the Jets match up pretty decently in a few areas, with a tough run-defense and a surging air-attack that could go over well against a dicey Raiders’ secondary. I just don’t see it being enough to make up for the high urgency and momentum of the Raiders, who I like to get to the wire a nose ahead this week. I’ll lay the small number on Oakland.

Loot’s Pick to Cover the Point Spread: I’m betting on the Oakland Raiders minus 3 points. Bet your Oak/NYJ pick and ALL your sports bets at -105 odds at BetAnySports! Making the switch from -110 odds to -105 odds will save you a ton of money over the course of the season. Think about the savings over a 10 year period!!!