Sharp bettors back side, cause line move in Raiders-Ravens game

The so-called smart money on the Raiders turned out to be as sharp as a spoon in their season-opening loss to the Chargers.

But sharp bettors are backing the team to bounce back in Sunday’s game at Baltimore.

The Ravens opened as 7-point favorites when the line was posted months ago and shot up as high as -10 this week. But the consensus spread dropped to 8½ on Wednesday and is 8 at Circa Sports.

“We did see some sophisticated play take it back, which is kind of surprising to me,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said. “I think it’s one of the tougher spots for any team to be in. The Raiders are one of the few teams in the league that’s playing back-t0-back road games, and they’re traveling the furthest of any team in the league.”

The Ravens are well-rested for their home opener after losing the Sept. 5 NFL season opener to the Chiefs, 27-20.

Despite the scheduling spot for the Raiders, who are 1-7 in 10 a.m. kickoffs the past two seasons, Circa sportsbook risk manager Dylan Sullivan gives them a shot to win outright. The Raiders are +350 on the money line as the biggest underdog on the board.

“The Raiders defense should give Baltimore a hard time, and if they have any offensive output, I think they are live to win the game,” Sullivan said. “We have big bets on both sides of the game. I made the spread a little lower.

“Given we are the best number on Baltimore, there are more tickets on that side, but nothing crazy so far.”

The Raiders led the Chargers 7-6 at halftime before getting outscored 16-3 in the second half en route to a 22-10 loss as 3-point underdogs. They’re +8½ (-108) at the Westgate SuperBook, where vice president of risk Ed Salmons thought the line was too high before it dropped.

“We had that line 7½ in the summer, and because the Raiders had a lousy second half, they pumped it up to 9½. That’s too much. I think the Raiders can play a close game,” he said. “I think it’s overinflated. Their defense played fine. If they can score 16 or 17 points — and that’s a big if — they’ll probably cover. They’ll probably hold the Ravens to 24 or less.”

Baltimore went 12-7 ATS last season and appeared poised to cover as 3-point underdogs at Kansas City before tight end Isaiah Likely’s apparent last-second touchdown catch was overturned by a replay that showed the front of his right foot landed on the out-of-bounds line.

The ticket count clearly favors the Ravens at Station Sports.

“I still think this number will go back up by kickoff, and the general public will far outweigh what we’ve seen in sophisticated play so far,” Esposito said. “By the time it kicks off, I’m fairly confident we’ll be Raiders fans.”

The consensus total is 41½, down to 41 at Circa, South Point and the SuperBook.

The Raiders went under in Week 1 and are on a 13-6 under run overall.

Best bet

Three-time Review-Journal NFL Challenge champion Doug Fitz made the Raiders one of his contest picks this week.

“Teams that lose by double digits are usually good bets the following week,” said Fitz (Systemplays.com).

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