On Sunday, the Las Vegas Raiders will visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an inter-conference matchup from Raymond James Stadium. Tampa could really use a win to help their chances of staying in the playoff hunt, while the Raiders’ playoff hopes disappeared long ago. The Bucs are favored by eight points going into this game, while the total has been set at 45.5. Here, we analyze Raiders vs Buccaneers and bring you our NFL betting picks for this Week 14 game.
Up to 220,000 Gold Coins & 10 Sweepstakes Coins
Promo Code: Click To Claim
Raiders Look to Bounce Back From Heartbreaker
Last week, the Las Vegas Raiders played on Black Friday against the Kansas City Chiefs and they led in the fourth quarter of that game. But they failed to hold onto that lead and lost on a controversial officiating sequence that prevented them from attempting a potential game-winning field goal. This week, they will look to bounce back from that disappointing loss in a season that has been a huge disappointment.
Against the Chiefs, the Raiders were more productive offensively than Kansas City, gaining 434 yards compared to just 329 for their opponents. Quarterback Aidan O’Connell was more than serviceable for Las Vegas, throwing for 340 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. Another performance like that from O’Connell could help the Raiders to snap their eight-game losing streak.
In this game, the question for the Raiders will be whether they can stop the pass as effectively as they did against the Chiefs. Kansas City’s biggest weakness is its receiving corps, while the Bucs have an electric group of pass catchers. It will be interesting to see how the Raiders defense handles that challenge after coming so close to getting back into the win column last week.
Buccaneers Return Home After Overtime Game
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers went to overtime against the Carolina Panthers in Charlotte during Week 13 of the NFL season. The Bucs got a win in overtime, forcing a Panthers fumble and kicking a game-winning field goal shortly after. This week, the Bucs look for another win as they come back home and face a Raiders team that has struggled mightily to this point in the 2024 season.
Against the Panthers, Tampa Bay was stingy against the run but really struggled to stop the pass. Bryce Young had one of his best games as a professional quarterback at the expense of the Bucs. While the Bucs survived in spite of that performance from Young, they will need to be better against the pass in this game to prevent Aidan O’Connell and the Raiders from upsetting them.
Going into this game, the Bucs are tied for first place in the NFC South with the Atlanta Falcons. Both teams are 6-6 on the season and getting above the .500 mark for the season would be huge for the postseason hopes of the Bucs in this game. But if Tampa doesn’t pay more attention to detail in this game, they could slide back below the .500 mark after this game.
Raiders vs Buccaneers Best Bet
We are going to take the points in this Raiders vs Buccaneers matchup in Week 14 of the NFL season. While the Raiders are by no means a good football team, they showed last week that they can hang with quality competition, while the Buccaneers’ performance against the Panthers was concerning to say the least. Look for this game to stay within one possession in Tampa Bay on Sunday.
