OAKLAND RAIDERS @ MINNESOTA VIKINGS 
Vegas Line: Raiders + 1.5
Rob’s Line: Vikings + 0.5
Straight out, this is an incredibly tough game to call. Before last week’s games, the Vikings would undoubtedly have been favoured for this one, but the Raiders won in San Diego as seven point underdogs while the Vikings had to sit through Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers picking them apart to the tune of 45-7.
The Raiders finally came good with Carson Palmer at quarterback, but the real thought goes into how critical you want to be of the Vikings’ performance in Green Bay when looking at the spread. Now, Vegas clearly aren’t reading that much into it, which is exactly right as what happened to them could happen to most of the teams in the NFL. However, I’m more inclined to believe that Palmer has a grasp of the offense in Oakland and as a result it makes the Raiders the most likely winners of the AFC West…but whisper that should Tim Tebow be in town because he finds ridiculous ways to win. The good news for the folks in Oakland though is that the Raiders will happily avoid the Broncos from hereon in.
This could actually be something of a shootout with both teams first looking to establish the run. The Raiders’ Darren McFadden hasn’t played since limping out of the Week 7 home loss to the Chiefs, but backup Michael Bush has been nothing short of sensational in relief, averaging 5.4 yards per carry over the last three games, albeit two of those being losses. He’s running as hard as his coaches could’ve asked and they love the work he does, but he may have his work cut out this week as he finds himself up against a Vikings run D that ranks sixth in the league.
Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson has been writing his own headlines ever since being drafted seventh overall by the Vikings in 2007 and he’s the figurehead of a running attack that ranks fifth in the league, but the Raiders rank nowhere near as highly as Minnesota when defending the run (25th) so he could be in for a big day and having been held in check for three of his last four games, Sunday could see him revisit some former glories.
With both teams ranked low in defending the pass, the scene is set for the young buck quarterback at home against the wily veteran given a new lease of life and it’s actually difficult to know which side of each quarterback will turn up on Sunday. Before Palmer’s brief redemption in San Diego, he’d thrown six interceptions in six quarters while Ponder, being a rookie who’s only started three career games (two of which were against the Packers), may be brilliant or terrible and to guess which one comes next is a brave call for any prognosticator.
This is one of the hardest games I’ve had to call all season, but if Vegas are offering a whole two points more than me in a game this close, I take the Silver and Black plus 1.5.
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