The NFL is back and Mondays are no longer the worst day of the week. DraftKings Sportsbook is here to make this special night even more special. Check out the NFL best bets for the Week 8 Monday Night Football matchup. The action kicks off with the Detroit Lions hosting the Las Vegas Raiders at 8:15 p.m. ET.
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Las Vegas Raiders vs. Detroit Lions
Lions -8 (-110)
The Raiders can’t run the ball. There are plenty of NFL betting articles breaking down the advanced analytics of the Raiders’ rush attack. This is not one. Josh Jacobs doesn’t look great. He’s not explosive. The 2023 version is not the 2022 version. He’ll be lucky to match half of last season’s output (over 2,000 total yards).
Jacobs didn’t age overnight. The carriage did not turn into a pumpkin at midnight. The carriage drivers did turn back into mice. Jacobs’ line has let him down. The holes aren’t there. He’s meeting contact at the line of scrimmage. This is a problem. A problem that’s not going away anytime soon.
There are more problems. Jimmy Garoppolo cannot stay on the field. No surprise there. When he is on the field, the notorious short-armed quarterback cannot stretch the field. This allows secondaries to cheat forward. They can sit on routes, break up routes and intercept passes. Opposing defenses can also stuff the box. And if things could not get any worse, the receivers aren’t happy and the Raiders’ top pick at tight end is barely being used.
There are problems on the other sideline, too. Life isn’t great for the Lions at the moment. That’s because the Lions have suddenly earned high expectations. This Lions team compared to the others over the last decade or two, might be the best. Life is great. It’s all about perspective. Week 7 was ugly, but bad weeks happen. It’s best to not overreact to one poor game.
Yes, the absence of David Montgomery is significant. The Lions’ secondary has been decimated by injuries. It’s not good, but it’s no reason to panic. The Lions have a great line and competent quarterback. Their pass catchers are above average. Last, and most importantly, they have great coaches. If anyone can right the ship after a rough loss, it’s coach Dan Campbell. Besides leadership, they’ve also got a great offensive coordinator in Ben Johnson. This offense won’t stagnate for long. Monday Night Football is a great opportunity for the city of Detroit to announce its return to prominence. This is a big night for the city, and a big night for America.
Over 46 (-112)
It’s Monday Night Football in the Motor City. The Lions have not hosted a team on Monday Night in half of a decade. The city is fired up. The team is fired up. Could this be similar to the Saints’ surprising “Dome-coming” win over the Michael Vick led Falcons following the Hurricane Katrina season?
Forget about last week. Embrace the narrative. That might sound foolish to some, but what does one game mean? Don’t let last week’s drubbing cloud your judgment. Let the distraction of Detroit on the big stage erase last week’s memory. Detroit has piled on the points when playing pitiful opponents. They will pile on the points again. They’re going to put on a show.
The question is the Raiders. They won’t be able to keep up. They won’t hold up their part of the bargain. They can, however, score enough points to push this to the over. The Lions’ defense is a concern. It’s not big enough of a concern against the Raiders’ offense to worry about the spread, but they’re incapable of pitching a shutout at the moment. The Raiders’ offense has struggles of their own, but they have talent. They have the right weapons to get the ball into the endzone. They simply need to be more consistent. They need to finish drives. Their 35% third-down conversion rate won’t fly (25th). Neither will their 41.7% red-zone TD Percentage Rate (25th). Inconsistency does not resolve easily. It may not resolve at all, but in a given week, a team can be more consistent. The Week 8 matchup against the Lions is an opportunity for the Raiders to be better. Not fixed, but better. The Lions’ defense allows 0.33 first downs per play (26th). Over the last three games, that number has increased to 0.36. That’s the worst in the NFL.
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View the latest odds and bet online legally at a top rated Sportsbook! Place a bet now at DraftKings Sportsbook!*
*Odds and lines are for illustrative purposes only.
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I am a promoter at DraftKings and am also an avid fan and user (my username is greenflagradio2) and may sometimes play on my personal account in the games that I offer advice on. Although I have expressed my personal view on the games and strategies above, they do not necessarily reflect the view(s) of DraftKings and do not constitute a representation that any particular strategy will guarantee success. All customers should use their own skill and judgment in building lineups. I may also deploy different players and strategies than what I recommend above. I am not an employee of DraftKings and do not have access to any non-public information.
