It’s the home opener and a great opportunity for the Silver and Black to start the season strong
After pulling off a shocking upset, the Las Vegas Raiders have their home opener and a great opportunity to start the season with a winning record during their Week 3 matchup with the Carolina Panthers. Also, our Silver and Black Pride Pick’em competition is underway as we’re starting to find out who will be in contention for the top picker in 2024!
To get things started, let’s take a look at the line for the Raiders-Ravens matchup, courtesy of FanDuel Sportsbook, and make some picks.
Raiders vs. Panthers
[Lines below are as of September 18 at 12:00 p.m. PST]
- Spread: LV -5.5
- O/U: 40.5
- LV ML: -235
- CAR ML: +194
Holder’s picks: LV -5.5, Over 40.5, LV ML
This is the first time the Raiders have been favored this season, but the line has gone down by a point and a half since the opening odds after the Panthers named Andy Dalton the starter. Still, a quarterback change won’t change the fact that Carolina is allowing the most points per game so far this season—36.5, hence the over pick—and has been the worst team in the league over the last two years. Las Vegas should win this one comfortably, so I’ll take them with a less-than-a-touchdown point spread.
Pick’em Competition
Moving onto S&BP’s Pick’em competition, below is a look at how our writers have fared through two weeks.
- Ray Aspuria 22-9 (71%)
- Matt Holder 19-12 (61%)
- Bill Williamson 17-14 (55%)
After a brutal showing in the season opener, your boy had a bounce-back performance last week by going 10-6 and finishing seventh overall in Tallysight’s rankings! That combined with a tough outing for Bill, who went 6-10, allowed me to move up into second place. Meanwhile, Ray has been the most stable of us with a 9-7 performance to take the early lead.
Community Standings
t-1. Redlady 23-9
t-1. Running With the Night 23-9
t-1. Roosky Raiders 23-9
t-4. MichaelMatto 22-10
t-4. MORE COW BELL 22-10
t-4. NASHBILLER8ER 22-10
t-4. Mooniac 22-10
t-4. UncleRaider 22-10
t-4. Hot Mo 22-10
t-4. 21Lefty21 22-10
t-4. JeepRaider 22-10
t-4. Passer Tucks Ball 22-10
t-4. Kid Dynamite 22-10
Week 2 Top Pickers
t-1. MichaelMatto 11-5
t-1. Redlady 11-5
t-1. Orracle510 11-5
t-1. MORE COW BELL 11-5
t-5. NASHBILLER8ER 10-6
t-5. ecstlrh8tr 10-6
t-5. Sacalicious 10-6
t-5. Mooniac 10-6
t-5. Gabe’s pickems 10-6
t-5. UncleRaider 10-6
A big shoutout is in order for Redlady with 11 correct picks to tie for the overall lead! Also, MichealMatto, Orracle510 and MORE COW BELL had a great week with 11 winners. We have a tight race to begin the year with 13 people within one game of each other and several more who are only two picks behind. Keep it up!
Remember to get your picks in this week. Best of luck and may your picks be good.