Coasts Collide As Washington Redskins To Face Oakland Raiders

NFL News - December 8th, 2009 - Written by Bryan

The series of events that took place on Sunday that caused the Washington Redskins to lose to the New Orleans Saints were unlucky to say the very least. In fact, it would lead one to suggest that the "football gods" were against them. The opposite is true for their opponent this week, the Oakland Raiders, who orchestrated a last minute, game winning drive against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Despite the high that Oakland comes in with, as well as the feeling of dismay Washington brings, odd makers feel this will be a close contest between two evenly matched teams. Washington is currently a one point favorite to go on the road and get win at Oakland this week. If you are doing some NFL Betting, they have an over/under total for the two teams installed at 37.5

The Redskins will look to regroup after losing a memorable game in overtime to New Orleans that gave SportsCenter all the highlight reels they needed Monday morning.

The Redskins are snake bitten to say the least, reeling from a game they had no business losing, but somehow managed to.

"I don't think the best team won today," Redskins center Casey Rabach said to reporters. "We had some bad breaks, some bizarre things happened."

These bizarre things included an interception by Washington with :30 to go in the first half, only to have Saints receiver Robert Meachem strip the ball, and take it 44-yards the other way for a touchdown. Not to be left out is the 23-yard field missed with just under two minutes to play in regulation that would have put Washington up 33-23, making it a two possession ball game, and virtually impossible for New Orleans to come back.

The Redskins will have to quit dwelling on the past and re-shift their focus to Oakland this week. The Skins will most likely be without leading rusher Clinton Portis again, who is still suffering from concussion like symptoms that have plagued pro bowler since the injury occurred on November 8th.

Oakland could not be feeling more different from Washington as they get ready to match up with the Redskins. The Raiders are beaming as they took down division foe Pittsburgh on a touchdown pass by Bruce Gradkowski with :09 remaining.

At 4-8, the "playoff door" has shut on this team, but that has not stopped them from competing hard in every game, as evidence of last week shows.

Gradkowski has shown improvement in his decision making, as he had his best game since taking over for JaMarcus Russell as the starter. Against Pittsburgh, Gradkowski went 20 for 33 for 308-yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions. He and the rest of the Raiders will look to build off that offensive output this week against a disgruntled Washington team.

Some NFL Betting Trends to consider is that Washington is 4-0 ATS in their last four games overall. Oakland is 1-5 ATS in their last 6 games following a S.U. win. The under is 3-0-1 in the Redskins last four games as a road favorite.

These two teams meet for the first time since the 2005 NFL season. Oakland won that contest 16-13 as six point favorites, failing to cover the spread.