San Francisco 49ers at Oakland Raiders (+8)*
We have our rules and we stick to them. As always, we take the points at home when they are greater than or equal to a touchdown. To review, the last three underdogs to receive at least seven points at home – Oakland and Minnesota in Week 12 and St. Louis in Week 11 — all beat the spread. Two of those teams even won their games outright, although we won’t go that far this week.
Oakland has been absolutely dreadful this season, winning it’s first game in Week 12, then basically closing up shop and going back into a shell. Granted, the Raiders had virtually no chance to follow up their emotional victory over the Chiefs with a win in St. Louis – in fact, the Rams were one of last week’s confidence picks – but they didn’t even show up to the game. As bad as the Raiders are, a loss like that sends shockwaves through the organization. They will, at least, compete at home.
San Francisco’s season, once again, hangs in the balance. After losing to the Seahawks on Thanksgiving night, the 49ers’ chances to win the division have basically vanished, but a loss to Oakland should close the book. It won’t happen, but neither should a blowout. In San Francisco’s last three games, the team has scored an average of 12 points. While one of the 49ers’ opponents was Seattle and it’s currently thriving defense, the other two teams were the 3-8 Redskins and 3-8 Giants. Their biggest margin of victory since Halloween was a whopping six points.
San Francisco wins by a touchdown, but Oakland beats the spread.
