Raiders vs Jaguars Week 9 Picks and Predictions: Etienne Continues Belated Breakout

On Sunday, we’ll see the Las Vegas Raiders vs. Jacksonville Jaguars at TIAA Bank Field. If you’re looking to watch two Super Bowl hopefuls then look away, as these two teams only have four wins between them, but it should be an interesting encounter.

Can Trevor Lawrence and the Jaguars get back on track with a home meeting against the Raiders? Don’t miss our NFL picks and predictions for the Raiders vs. Jaguars with kickoff on November 6.

Raiders vs Jaguars best odds

Raiders vs Jaguars picks and predictions

The Jaguars are still trying to work out exactly what they have with Trevor Lawrence. We’ve seen some moments of incredible skill, then we see other moments of infuriatingly bad judgment calls. There is one man on the Jaguars’ roster who really feels like he’s transforming into a legitimate NFL star, however, and that’s Lawrence’s former Clemson teammate Travis Etienne. 

We’ve been waiting to see him really grab the backfield and over the past month we’d seen his share of carries improve, then the team traded James Robinson to the Jets.

Last week, the Jaguars faced the Broncos in London and Etienne really took advantage in his first full game as the bell cow, exploding for 156 rushing yards and a touchdown on his 24 carries. The coaching staff has said that he’ll continue to have a similar workload, which bodes well in this game.

The Raiders have one of the NFL’s better rushing defenses but with Etienne getting volume, the 77.5 rushing yard line looks like one we can feel confident in backing to hit the Over. The other impressive thing about Etienne is how often he pulls off huge running plays, which has started to feel like a weekly occurrence. 

Last week, he broke away for a 49-yard run, and in the open field, there aren’t many betting running backs in the league.

Don’t overthink it here, just back Etienne to go Over here.

My best bet: Travis Etienne Over 77.5 rushing yards (-110)

Raiders vs Jaguars spread analysis

It’s really hard to know which Raiders team you’re going to see each week. In the past three games, we’ve seen the best and worst of the team. They’ve run the Chiefs close, demolished the Texans, and then last week, put up a goose egg against a poor Saints team who scored 24 points on them.

Davante Adams will be playing, which is good, especially with Darren Waller questionable. More important than Adams is Josh Jacobs, who has been reborn this season. In the past four games, he’s found the end zone six times and will be a threat.

The Jaguars are in a strange place too. They took a lead against the Broncos and nearly scored a second touchdown, but Lawrence turned it over, which flipped the momentum of the game.

There are things that need to be improved in this Jaguars team, not least the addition of a dominant vertical threat, which seems to have been the reason behind the Calvin Ridley trade. I do think there’s potential here and it’s worth noting that the Raiders have only covered two times in the past seven meetings between these teams. I’d lean towards backing the home side to cover the spread.

Raiders vs Jaguars Over/Under analysis

Just as the spread has moved by half a point, so has the total points line, increasing from 47 to 47.5. These are two teams who are capable of exploding on offense and putting up big numbers but they’re just as likely to struggle to move the chains, something which would lead to this being low scoring. 

I don’t have a strong lean but I’d probably say the Under offers better value, as the chance of one of these two teams not showing up is high. The Under is 5-2 in the Raiders' past seven on the road as well as the past five Jaguars home games all going Under the total points line. 

Raiders vs Jaguars betting trend to know

The Raiders are 2-5 ATS in their past seven meetings. Find more NFL betting trends for Raiders vs. Jaguars.

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