NFL Betting: Raiders dreadful as favorites

Betting against the Oakland Raiders, especially in the rare times they’re favored, has been one of the best bets in the NFL over the last seven seasons.
 
Since 2006, the Raiders are 4-17-1 (19.0 percent) against the spread as favorites. That’s not good. Oakland has been favored on the road just once over the last seven seasons and just four times at home. 
 
With this season’s difficult schedule, don’t expect the Raiders to play the role of the favorite often. Their road slate is brutal - at Indianapolis, at Denver, at Kansas City, at NY Giants, at Houston, at Dallas, and at San Diego. 
 
The Chiefs aren’t much better, going 9-20-1 (31.0 percent) against the spread as favorites. There are eight teams, including the Chiefs and Raiders, who, when favored, failed to cover the spread less than 40 percent of the time (see complete list below).
 
While those teams struggled to live up to expectations, these three teams excelled in the role of favorite (ATS records as favorites since 2007):
 
Green Bay Packers (48-31-2 ATS): The Packers are the only team to cover the spread in better than 60 percent of their games when favored. It’s not a coincidence that Aaron Rodgers took over as the Packers' full-time starting quarterback in 2008.
 
Atlanta Falcons (36-27-3 ATS): The Falcons have been consistent as favorites both on the road (13-9-1 ATS) and at home (23-18-2 ATS) in the Georgia Dome. With an upgrade to running back in Steven Jackson, and Matt Ryan emerging as a top-tier QB, the Falcons will have plenty of chances to keep up this trend as favorites this season.
 
San Francisco 49ers (29-22-3 ATS): The Niners have been deadly as a home favorite, going 22-12-3 against the spread the past seven seasons. 
Favorite   W L P ATS %
Green Bay   48 31 2 60.7
Atlanta   36 27 3 57.1
San Fran   29 22 3 56.8
Cleveland   16 13 1 55.1
Seattle   26 22 2 54.1
Houston   31 27 2 53.4
New England   55 48 4 53.3
Buffalo   17 15 0 53.1
New Orleans   45 40 0 52.9
Baltimore   38 36 2 51.3
Indianapolis   42 40 0 51.2
Carolina   25 24 1 51.0
Chicago   31 31 2 50.0
NY Giants   36 36 2 50.0
San Diego   43 46 1 48.3
Pittsburgh   44 49 2 47.3
NY Jets   27 31 1 46.5
Philadelphia   37 43 1 46.2
Tampa Bay   17 20 1 45.9
Minnesota   24 29 2 45.2
Tennessee   24 29 1 45.2
St. Louis   9 12 0 42.8
Dallas   35 48 1 42.1
Arizona   18 25 0 41.8
Jacksonville   15 23 0 39.4
Miami   16 25 0 39.0
Washington   13 21 2 38.2
Detroit   11 18 2 37.9
Denver   21 35 2 37.5
Cincinnati   19 29 3 33.3
Kansas City   9 20 1 31.0
Oakland   4 17 1 19.0

 

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