Las Vegas Raiders vs Minnesota Vikings Point Spread Picks

Las Vegas has plenty of holes and question marks. They're getting too much respect being a road favorite in a meaningless game. The Raiders don't have much behind center in QBs Gardner Minshew, Aidan O'Connell, and Anthony Brown, along with young cornerbacks in the secondary. In their last preseason road game, Las Vegas lost at Dallas, 31-16, surrendering 457 yards. Minnesota is home and has roster competition everywhere, including at QB with Sam Darnold and rookie J.J. McCarthy. Look for the home team to play with far more fire and interest. Play Minnesota. 

Minnesota is on a 5-2 SU, 6-1 ATS run, along with winning six of eight. The defense is eighth in points allowed (20.2 per game) and 13th in total yards given up. The Vikings are 60-34 ATS after back-to-back losses. Last place Las Vegas has lost two in a row. Three quarterbacks have combined for 11 TDs and 17 interceptions while the ground game averages 3.5 yards per carry, which is second-worst in the NFL. The defense is 25th against the run, 26th on third down, and 18th in points allowed (21.3 per game). Las Vegas is 13-29 ATS at home after scoring 17 or fewer points in consecutive contests, plus 43-74 ATS in December games. Play Minnesota. 

Minnesota has a new coach in Kevin O'Connell, who was the Los Angeles Rams' offensive coordinator and a new defensive coordinator in Ed Donatell, who comes over from Denver, which was third in scoring defense in 2021. The Vikings were #30 in total defense in 2021, but they had a good draft with five of the first six picks being defenders. The Raiders already have a game under their belts as they defeated Jacksonville 27-11 in the Hall of Fame Game with backups Jarrett Stidham and Nick Mullens combining for 16 of 26 for 168 yards passing with no touchdowns. They'll see most if not all of the action in this game as Derek Carr hasn't played in a preseason game since 2019. Las Vegas coach Josh McDaniels now is 3-6 straight up and 4-5 ATS in preseason, including his stint with the Broncos. Minnesota will be without Kirk Cousins, who had a positive test for COVID, but he probably wouldn't have played much if at all anyway. The backups are Sean Mannion and Kellen Mond as the Vikings will try to implement some new schemes offensively. Mannion is in his sixth season and went 22-for-36 for 189 yards in the one game he got into in 2021. Mond played in one game his rookie year and attempted three passes. Minnesota has covered six of its past seven preseason openers and a new coach usually wants to impress in his first game. The Raiders are 1-7 ATS their past eight in Game Two of the preseason. Take the Vikings.

Kirk Cousins appears to be one of the many quarterbacks we've seen recently that are successful with a certain team and system, but is ineffective when going somewhere else. Even he admitted that he might not be the starting QB much longer if he continues to play as he did against the Packers. Cousins went 14-of-32 for 230 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions plus he fumbled twice. Minnesota might have to rely on its ground game as it did against Atlanta in the opener when it rushed 38 times for 172 yards. In that game, Cousins threw only 10 times while completing eight for 98 yards. The Vikings figure to use a lot of clock with Dalvin Cook running the ball, but Oakland is allowing an average of only 63 rushing yards. The Raiders have covered five straight when following a loss dating to last season and they're 6-2-1 ATS in Week 3 over the last nine years. Play the Raiders.

Oakland is getting a lot of respect from oddsmakers because of QB Derek Carr, but this is a .500 team with a bad defense. Oakland is #30 in the NFL in yards allowed and #24 in points (26.4 points per game). The Raiders are coming off a spread cover, but are 7-18-1 ATS when following a cover. They are also on a 9-2 run OVER the total, including 4-1 OVER at home and 20-7-1 OVER the total after a spread cover. A well coached and balanced Minnesota team is in town, one on a 22-8 spread run, as well as 7-0 ATS after a victory. They topped the Rams last week, 21-18, as RB Adrian Peterson had 21 of his 125 yards in overtime to set up Blair Walsh's winning field goal. QB Teddy Bridgewater is 12-8 since becoming the Vikings starting quarterback four games into last season. Six of those victories have come over a seven-game stretch that has Minnesota tied with Green Bay atop the NFC North in Mike Zimmer's second season. Minnesota's sixth-ranked pass defense (220.6 ypg) will be challenged and Oakland is 8-1 OVER the total after allowing more than 350 total yards in their previous game. This is a tough spot for the home team after playing at Pittsburgh last week, and the underdog is 4-1 ATS in their last five meetings. Take Minnesota and the OVER.