Raiders-Texans betting: Sharp money on side, total

The betting public has given up on the Raiders, but professional sports bettors are still backing the Silver and Black.

A sharp bettor at Boomer’s Sportsbook wagered on the Raiders as 14-point road underdogs to the Texans in Sunday’s game at Houston.

“The only sharp bet we’ve taken on that game is Raiders +14,” Boomer’s director of trading Nick Bogdanovich said. “We’ll need the Raiders again this week, so it’s nice to get a little early money in the bank, because come Sunday every parlay’s going to have the Houston Texans on it.”

At STN Sports, 90 percent of spread bets are on Houston, which has won six straight games while going 5-1 against the spread.

“It’s clear our locals are definitely off the Raiders,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said.

The Texans (9-5, 8-6 ATS) were -12½ on the lookahead line at the Westgate SuperBook before they crushed the Cardinals 40-20 on Sunday and the Raiders were whipped by the Eagles, 31-0.

The Raiders (2-12, 5-9 ATS) have lost eight straight and 12 of 13 and are on a 1-4 spread slide. They’re last in the league in scoring at 14.0 points per game and facing a Houston squad that leads the league in scoring defense, allowing only 16.3 ppg.

“They just can’t score,” pro sports bettor Jeff Whitelaw said of the Raiders. “How much are they going to be able to score against Houston, which is probably the best defense in the NFL?”

Bogdanovich speculated that the sharp bet on the Raiders might have been placed partly because starting quarterback Geno Smith is expected to return to action after missing last week’s loss at Philadelphia with a shoulder injury.

Backup quarterback Kenny Pickett started against the Eagles, completing 15 of 25 passes for 64 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.

“Geno’s coming back. That’s probably somewhere in their thought process,” Bogdanovich said. “No one can be worse than Kenny Pickett was last week. But Geno’s been no great shakes so far.”

Despite Smith missing last week’s game, he has thrown 14 interceptions, second-most in the NFL behind Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa, who has thrown 15 interceptions.

Smith is a -164 favorite at Caesars Sportsbook to throw a touchdown pass and -218 to throw an interception.