Fading Raiders, Chargers QBs Among ‘Thursday Night Football’ Bets To Make

Week 15 of the NFL regular season is now set to kick off, so let's examine three bets to make for the once-hyped but now anticlimactic Thursday night primetime matchup between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Las Vegas Raiders.

We'll start with the point spread, all odds courtesy of DraftKings Sportsbook.

Raiders -3 (-118)
On paper, when the season started, this felt like a box office game that would have playoff implications between two of the game's premier QBs: Jimmy Garoppolo and Justin Herbert. My how the mighty have fallen.

Herbert is done for the season after an underreaching year and Garoppolo never materialized with the Raiders from the start. Enter Easton Stick and Aidan O'Connell on primetime for all of us to see. Yikes.

On a bright note, even though the Raiders versus Minnesota Vikings was one of the worst games of all time last week, I was able to cover my Raiders +3 bet simply because the Vikings were only able to muster three points to the Raiders' doughnut. I'm going to go right back to the well this week but by laying the three points with Vegas this time. The combination of that embarrassing offense performance last week, mixed with Stick making his debut for LA and the Raiders being at home, is enough for me to roll the dice. I'll plug my nose and reluctantly take my chances on Las Vegas -3 on its home turf.

Aidan O'Connell Under 194.5 passing yards (-115)
Although I'm backing the Raiders in this spot, I want to make it clear that I have zero faith in their offense, especially O'Connell. Last week, the rookie had multiple chances to win or at the very least tie the game against the hapless Vikings but repeatedly fell short. The scuttlebutt this week from Vegas is that head coach Antonio Pierce will likely have him on a short leash if the unit sputters again. In fact, O'Connell fell short of this number in a complete game, anyway, with only 171 passing yards last week.

Easton Stick Under 187.5 passing yards (-115)
Stick is the NFL's man of mystery. Although he's been in the league longer than O'Connell, Stick has been a career backup to both Philip Rivers and Justin Herbert and only has 38 regular season snaps. He didn't show much during this past preseason, either, in terms of passing the ball, mainly relying on checkdowns. He did provide a spark in the athleticism category, however, rushing for 82 yards on 11 carries. Still, until I see him do anything in real game action, I can't in my right mind bet him to go over on rushing or passing yards. So, instead, until further notice, I'll fade him, especially against a solid Raiders defense.