It hasn’t been a good season for football in the Bay Area as the Oakland Raiders and San Francisco 49ers sit at the bottom of their respective conference heading into their Week 9 Thursday Night Football matchup. But despite the poor play from the northern California clubs, this contest should get the blood boiling for a number of reasons. First, both teams have to be pissed that they’ve each won just one game. And second, this is likely the last Battle of the Bay matchup with the Silver and Black heading to Las Vegas in a few years.
Watch this Week 9 regular season matchup live on Thursday, November 1, 2018, at 8:20 p.m. ET at Levi’s Stadium.
Opening NFL Odds at BookMaker.eu
Oakland Raiders +3
San Francisco 49ers -3
Over/Under 47
The home venues of each team are separated by about a 30-mile stretch of interstate, making this a rivalry in terms of geography only. The teams have played during the regular season just 13 times with the last coming in 2014 when very few of the current players were around. There was a longstanding preseason tilt between the clubs, but that ended in 2011 when violence erupted in the stands and the teams decided to discontinue the game. So the stage is set on Thursday night in what will likely be the last game between these two with the Raiders set to move to Vegas.
With Amari Cooper traded away and Marshawn Lynch on injured reserve, most wondered where the Raiders offense was going to come from. That fell on Derek Carr, who threw three scoring passes and ran for another over the second and third quarters to stake Oakland to a lead over the Colts entering the final stanza.
Despite his erratic play for much of the season Carr looked more like the 2016 version of himself while leading the Raiders to a 28-21 lead. And it was a jolt of offense the team needed after scoring a combined 13 points in its two previous outings. Still, the Raiders failed to cover the spread as a 3.5-point dog and they’ve dropped three in a row SU and ATS while going just 2-5 against the line this season. They opened as a 3-point dog on the NFL betting line for Thursday’s contest.
And the way the Niners are playing it might be wise to hit the Raiders on the live betting lines at BookMaker.eu. Taking the title of worst team in the NFC and possibly the entire league away from the Cardinals, the Niners found another way to lose. S.F. squandered a 12-point fourth quarter lead against a team that was averaging just slightly over that amount of points per game for the season.
The Niners have had some close calls this year, losing by three at Green Bay by giving away a late lead, and dropping a 2-point decision to the Chargers earlier this season when again holding a second-half advantage. It’s hard to back a team that has a penchant for self destructing, and the Raiders could be had at a better price on the live betting lines if they fall behind. And as we’ve seen, you can’t count out the Niners for giving a game away.
In order to keep the ball out of C.J. Beathard’s hands, look for the Niners to try and establish the ground game early. For the first time since taking over for the injured Jimmy Garoppolo, Beathard didn’t throw a pick, but his numbers were sad at best. He completed 50 percent of his throws for 190 yards, and 55 of those came on one play. So, don’t expect the passing game to strike fear in Oakland’s defenders.
That will be up to Matt Breida, who has been slowed with injuries after a hot start. Going against the NFL’s worst rush defense should allow Breida to have some success and I expect him to get plenty of chances to exceed his rushing yard total on a prop bet at BookMaker.eu.
Raiders at 49ers Live Betting
Both teams look much different now than they did at the beginning of the season. The Niners have been ravaged by injuries while the Raiders have dealt a number of their top players. And because of it both clubs are looking at their draft positioning rather than their playoff positioning. This game won’t lack for excitement given their location to each other and that they haven’t played in four years. Fans in the Bay Area will eat it up despite the combined two wins. And that leaves plenty of options on the live betting feature at BookMaker.eu.
NFL Betting Odds
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