Getty Matt Patricia and the Lions before a game in Oakland.
The Detroit Lions get back on the field this week with a trip to the Oakland Raiders, and even in spite of their victory this week, Detroit finds themselves in a familiar position for Week 9.
Once again, the Lions are underdogs heading into a road game. This week, the team is seen to be a 2 point underdog to the Raiders, as explained by Vegas Insider.
Both teams are similarly average in 2019 in terms of record, with the Raiders sitting at 3-4, yet in second place in a weak AFC West division. Detroit, meanwhile, sits at 3-3-1, which is good for third in a much tougher NFC North division so far this season.
In football terms, the line is pretty even, which is indicative of two teams that are inconsistent and have struggled early this season in a big way. Either is capable of putting the same effort out on the field, which means this line makes plenty of sense.
Lions-Raiders Line Not a Surprise
Though the Lions won last week against the Giants, the game was much closer than it needed to be. Detroit didn’t put away New York at all, even when it seemed they were on the verge of a massive blowout, plenty of issues kept the opposition in the game.
Detroit hasn’t been disciplined this season, and has struggled to find consistency early on as shown by their average record. Going on the road in the NFL is difficult, especially when there’s a long trip planned. Detroit faltered earlier this season having to travel out west and change time zones in Arizona, and the worry is there could be a similar stumble this time around for the team.
With that in mind, it isn’t surprising to see the Raiders as the favored team this week. The last tine the Lions played Oakland on the road was in the 2018 preseason in Matt Patricia’s coaching debut. Detroit got ran over in that game, even though it didn’t count in the standings.
The Lions will have to prove they can go on the road and take care of business in order to stay in the NFC wild card race.
Matt Patricia Praises Raiders
The Lions boss had plenty of good things to say about the Raiders this week when talking about the matchup, and admitted that while he doesn’t know the Raiders well, he’s seen enough to understand what they represent.
“This is a team we don’t know very well. I think they’re well coached, I think they’ve gotten a lot better,” Patricia said to the media. “Obviously we had a great opportunity to practice against them last year, that was good experience for us to be able to go out there and they were tremendous to us and hosted us while we were out there for the week.”
Specifically, Patricia credited Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock for how they have constructed the Raiders roster and how they are putting together and coaching the team through the 2019 year.
“Coach Gruden’s doing a great job, Mike Mayock, putting a team together that’s got a good combination of young, very talented, explosive players combined with some veterans that are some pretty savvy vets that are experienced in the NFL and bringing these guys along at a high level,” Patricia said when breaking down the Raiders roster.
Patricia, as a result, knows the challenge he and his team will be facing well, and understands a crisp week of practice is the only way to achieve the desired result on Sunday afternoon.
“It’s a really tough team, they do some things really well and we know we’re going to have some problems with them this weekend. So we need a good week of preparation,” Patricia said. “We got a big challenge ahead of us this week, that’s kind of where our focus is right now.”
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