This Raiders team barely snuck into the playoffs, however, this team has a lot of the attributes that make a team scary in the postseason. They have a strong pass rush led by Maxx Crosby. They have a strong run game behind Josh Jacobs. Most importantly, the Raiders also have a veteran QB (Derek Carr) that knows how to protect the football and command the offense. On the flip side for the Bengals, Joe Burrow has been fantastic down the stretch of the season. When you break down Joe Burrow's numbers, you'll find that he torches man coverage, but he struggles against zone coverage. The Raiders play almost exclusively zone coverage behind defensive coordinator Gus Bradley. You may remember Gus Bradley from his days as the Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator during the Legion of Boom. We love this Bengals team, but 6 points is too many to pass up, our bet is one unit.

This pick is very straight forward, no need to over complicate it with a long write up. Our numbers suggest this game will be close, so we will take the 5 points. It doesn't hurt to have the best NFL coach of all time (Bill Belichick), and a big time defense on our side. The weather could be a factor tonight, we saw the Patriots beat the Bills during the regular season when the weather became a factor. As talented as Josh Allen is, his track record in inclement weather is not very good. The Patriots have a strong run game, and should be able to keep the ball out of Allen's hands and limit his possessions. We will take the 5 points behind Belichick for one unit.

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