Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images. Pictured: Defensive end Carl Nassib #94 of the Las Vegas Raiders
Raiders vs. Steelers Odds
| Raiders Odds | +5.5 |
| Steelers Odds | -5.5 |
| Over/Under | 47 |
| Date | Sunday, Sept. 19 |
| Time | 1 p.m. ET |
| TV | CBS |
*Odds as of Wednesday morning
What a win for the Las Vegas Raiders on Monday Night Football!
After closing as a 3.5-point home underdog against the Baltimore Ravens, Jon Gruden’s squad won in thrilling fashion in front of a nationally-televised, primetime audience.
Casual bettors will very likely remember the performance itself when looking ahead to NFL Week 2 odds, but many may not think about what the Raiders face this week ahead of Sunday’s matchup with the Steelers in Pittsburgh.
And “in Pittsburgh” is the key phrase in the sentence above.
Let me explain.
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Raiders vs. Steelers Betting Trends
As a West Coast team that just played on the West Coast on Monday night, then having to travel to the East Coast on a short week, Las Vegas is in a terrible situational spot in Week 2.
According to our Bet Labs software, a team that calls the Pacific time zone home, that just played in the Pacific time zone before having to travel to the East Coast with fewer than seven days between games, has occurred just 18 times since the start of the 2005 NFL season.
And as one would imagine, scheduling “quirks” like this are not optimal for the West Coast team having to travel East on a short week.
Teams in this spot are just 5-12-1 against the spread for an extremely poor 29.4% cover rate.
To be fair, this is an incredibly small sample size, but again, the sample is so short because it’s not a very common circumstance.
The bottom line is that no matter how you handicap the Raiders vs. Steelers NFL Week 2 matchup, Las Vegas’ unique travel situation certainly isn’t ideal for the Raiders on Sunday.
