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Lions vs. Raiders Gambling & NFL Free Prediction (Week 15)

Detroit Lions vs Oakland Raiders Betting Preview

While the Detroit Lions try to keep a firm grip on a NFC wild-card berth, the Oakland Raiders attempt to keep their playoff hopes alive in the AFC, when the teams meet for the first time since 2007 on Sunday in the Detroit of the West.

Detroit vs Oakland
When: 4:05 PM ET, Sunday, December 18, 2011
Where: O.co Coliseum, Oakland, California
TV:FOX
LINE: -1 (Detroit) O/U 47.5

The Lions (8-5) have lost five of their last eight and are coming off two straight road losses, but hope that history will continue as they have won two straight meetings with the Raiders after losing the previous four. In the team’s last meeting, Detroit posted a 36-21 road victory back on Sept. 9, 2007.

They will also receive a boost by the return of defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh following his two-game suspension for intentionally stomping on the Packers’ Evan Dietrich-Smith in Detroit’s loss to the Green Bay on Thanksgiving

Meanwhile, quartback Matthew Stafford threw two touchdown passes as the Lions came up with a late goal-line stand to post a 34-28 victory over the visiting Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. It was a shocking turn of events after the Lions posted their highest scoring first half in 26 years.

Stafford is now just 246 passing yards away from becoming the third quarterback in Lions history to reach 4,000 and will look to extend his streak of consecutive games with a touchdown pass to 16.

On the receiving end of many of those passes is WR Calvin Johnson, who leads the NFC with 12 TD catches, while Detroit’s six defensive TDs are the club’s most in a season since 1967. [soliloquy id=”82219″]

That defense will need to contain one of the NFL’s best running attacks that is tied with Houston Texans for the AFC lead with 15 rushing touchdowns, led by RB Michael Bush who is one rushing TD away from matching his career high of eight set last season.

Nevertheless, despite their powerful ground game, the Raiders postseason chances have faded after back-to-back losses to Miami and Green Bay, dropping them to one game behind the Denver Broncos in the AFC West. They now trail the New York Jets by one game for the final wild-card spot in the conference.

Things have not been going well defensively for Oakland who have yielded 80 points in their last two games, and they aren’t getting any help from the offense as QB Carson Palmer continued to contribute in keeping the defense on the field for most of last week’s game against Green bay by throwing a season-high four interceptions.

Palmer, who has been picked off 13 times in seven games this season while throwing only nine touchdown passes, could have prime target Denarius Moore back Sunday as the receiver hopes to return after missing three contests with a foot injury.

Matt’ s Prediction: Lions 24, Raiders 17–Oakland’s running game will find it’s match in a Lions’ very capable front seven while the secondary makes one game-changing pick off to secure the win and keep Detroit’s playoff hopes alive.

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