Raiders-Jaguars betting: Sharp action on side, total before Hunter injury

The Raiders are 1-5 straight up and against the spread since winning and covering their season opener at New England, with their only win and cover coming against the lowly Titans.

But the sharp money is on the Silver and Black as a home underdog to the Jaguars on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium.

STN Sports reported sharp action on the Raiders +3 and under 45 before the line dipped to 2½ and the total dropped to 44 on Friday, after Jacksonville coach Liam Coen announced two-way player Travis Hunter will be placed on injured reserve due to a knee injury he suffered in Thursday’s practice.

“The sharp guys have been on the Raiders and under in that game and with the Travis Hunter news, it’s come down,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “But the ticket count still does favor the Jaguars. At this point, we’re going to be Raiders and over fans.”

At STN Sports, 77 percent of the tickets are on the Jaguars and 54 percent of bets are on the under, which was as high as 46 earlier in the week.

Both teams are coming off byes. The Raiders are looking to bounce back from a 31-0 road loss to the Chiefs on Oct. 19 and will be bolstered by the return of tight end Brock Bowers, who has missed three games with a knee injury. Jacksonville is coming off a 35-7 loss to the Rams in London.

“There’s been good two-way (action) in the game,” Boomer’s Sportsbook director of trading Nick Bogdanovich said. “I don’t think it’ll be big one way or another just because the Raiders have played so poorly the public won’t back them, even though they’re located here. Jacksonville has looked trashy, too.

“I do think we’ll see some Raiders teaser money. It looks like a good game to tease above seven. They play close games at home and the defense plays well at home.”

The Jaguars opened as 2-point favorites last week. The line quickly shot up to 3 before dipping to 2½ with the Hunter news. Bogdanovich said there were sharp bets on both sides at Boomer’s.

“There was originally a Jacksonville bet. It came from a sharp, and the Raider bet coming back was from someone sharp,” he said. “Sometimes in a game you can end up with sharps on both sides.”

The Jaguars have lost and failed to cover their last two games after winning and covering three straight. Their past two games have gone under the total.

The Raiders are on a 5-11 spread skid overall and they’re 5-2 to the under this season, including a current 3-0 under run.

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Legendary sportscaster Brent Musburger made the Raiders +3 one of his picks in the Review-Journal NFL Challenge.

“The week off came at the right time to get Brock Bowers healthy,” Musburger said. “The Jaguars’ loss of Travis Hunter hurts both the offense and defense.”

Three-time RJ Challenge champion Doug Fitz also took the Raiders.

“This is pretty much a systems play since the Raiders’ stats and performance have been underwhelming to say the least,” Fitz said. “I think the Raiders are in a good situational spot with both teams coming off their bye week. The Jaguars are on a 1-5-1 (ATS skid) after scoring seven or fewer points and a 1-9 ATS (slide) facing teams off a bye.

“The Raiders are on a 4-0-1 ATS run against teams off a bye.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on X.