Jack Del Rio had one goal and one goal only for the preseason. He wanted his Oakland Raiders to be tough. They didn't necessarily have to win games, but they had to outwork opponents and be more physical.
They've accomplished that goal thus far in the 2015 preseason, and as a result, they probably have the better of the two teams for live betting purposes in this game against the Arizona Cardinals.
QUARTERBACK ROTATION
Derek Carr hasn't been asked to do a heck of a lot here in the preseason, but he'll get turned loose along with his newest weapon, Amarri Cooper in this game. Carr has yet to lead the Raiders on a scoring drive in an exhibition, and we know he isn't going to be leaving this game until he puts at least one good drive together from a confidence standpoint.
Mat McGloin and Christian Ponder have been relatively impressive as the relievers for Carr. That's a good thing for live bettors too, because the less we see of sure-to-be-cut Cody Fajardo, the better server we all are.
The two games here in the preseason haven't looked anything like each other in terms of the quarterback rotation for Bruce Arians, which will make this game tough to handicap until we see who is coming in next in live betting.
Carson Palmer has only been in sparingly, and there has been no indication that that will change in this one, believe it or not. Arians knows, especially with Palmer's injury history, that reps for Logan Thomas and Drew Stanton could end up being more valuable when push comes to shove in the regular season.
WHEN OAKLAND HAS THE BALL
We alluded to this earlier, but we'd bet that Cooper is going to be more involved in this offense in this game than he has in his first two clashes as a pro. He has four catches for 62 yards thus far in the preseason, but he had one ball go for 40 yards last week. If the Raiders try becoming more aerial in this one, live bettors banking on the over will be the beneficiaries.
We've seen the Arizona defense get a little too aggressive at times and give up big plays a lot over the course of the last year, and this might be another circumstance where a huge play and six points is any given play away.
WHEN ARIZONA HAS THE BALL
The good news for live bettors who like the over is that all of Arizona's backups are tasked with running the same vertical passing game which Palmer runs. The degrees of success will definitely vary, but regardless as to either is successful or not, there are good signs for the over. There will be long plays, and there will be a lot of incomplete passes, both of which are good for lots of scoring drives.
The Raiders though, have played excellent defense no matter who has been on the field. Opponents are averaging less than four yards per rush, and the front seven has put together five sacks in two games.
TREND TO TRACK
You wouldn't think that Del Rio and the over go hand in hand with one another, but you should think again if that's your impression.
Sure, the under is 2-0 in Oakland's exhibitions thus far, but Del Rio was 20-16 towards the over when he was coaching the Jaguars to go with a sterling 20-14-2 ATS record to boot.
The NFL betting lines and props for this Sunday game were first available at BookMaker Sportsbook. The Oakland Raiders were lined at -1 alongside a total of 40. Live wagering during commercials offers adjusted moneylines, totals and spreads. Log in and start gambling during the game now!
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