Las Vegas (0-0) vs Jacksonville (0-0)
When: Thursday, August 4th 2022
Where: Tom Benson Stadium,
Canton, Ohio
Time: 8:00 ET | TV: NBC
Opening Odds: Las Vegas -1/33.5
The 2022 NFL season officially kicks off this Thursday with the annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. This year’s edition features the Las Vegas Raiders and Jacksonville Jaguars and will be televised on NBC from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium at 8 PM ET. The game line has been back-and-forth with the teams each being 1-point favorites or Pickem and a very low total of 30.5. Favorites are 13-3 SU and 10-4-2 ATS at the Hall of Fame Game since the 2002 edition. Las Vegas head coach Josh McDaniels is 2-6 SU and 3-5 ATS lifetime during the preseason, while Jacksonville’s Doug Pederson is 8-8 SU and ATS. Teams in this game haven’t combined for more than 40 points since 2013.
Both coaches haven’t said how playing time will be distributed, which makes it a little harder to handicap. Nick Mullens, Jarrett Stidham and Chase Garbers are backing up Derek Carr for the Raiders. For the Jags, it’s sophomore QB Trevor Lawrence, followed by CJ Beathard (groin, questionable), Jake Luton and late camp signee Kyle Sloter in the depth chart. It’s the fourth time in this game for the Raiders (3-0) but first since moving to Las Vegas. This will be Jacksonville’s second time here after they lost in 1995.
The Raiders were a playoff team last year but lost to the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round and then fired their interim coach. Now McDaniels is running the show. He is a former Denver head man and long-time Patriots offensive coordinator. Las Vegas also added arguably the NFL’s best receiver via trade in former Packer Davante Adams and signed Pro Bowl pass-rusher Chandler Jones. Neither will probably play on Thursday as well as most starters. Instead, we’ll probably see running backs Kenyan Drake, Zamir White, and Brandon Bolden, who are all competing to be Josh Jacobs’ back up.
This will be the Jaguars head coaching debut of Doug Pederson, the former Super Bowl-winning coach of the Philadelphia Eagles. He replaces Urban Meyer, who was a complete disaster and was fired during the season. Pederson is a terrific offensive coach and should help Trevor Lawrence rebound from a rough rookie season. Lawrence will not play Thursday as well as running back Travis Etienne, who missed his 2021 rookie season with a Lisfranc injury. Travon Walker, the first overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, should see some time on defense.
This is a game about the backups and I like Las Vegas’ bunch, especially at running back. The Jags were terrible on defense a year ago and the Raiders should be able to score some points.
Pick: Raiders PK
