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Raiders and Steelers Playing “Look Ahead” Games Sunday

Scott Morris | September 24, 2017

Over the last decade, NFL teams that are playing a non-conference game the week prior to a divisional game on the road are 27-54 straight up and 34-36-1 against the spread in the non-conference games.

If you have been around sports betting for any length of time chances are you have heard of “look ahead games” or “trap games.”

However, more importantly is if, as a bettor you take them into consideration when making weekly wagers. Some sports betting pundits believe there is solid value in the identification of those scenarios, while others believe them to be just a distraction from more important numbers or betting scenarios.

Regardless of what side of the street you sit on it is, they should be at least used to factor in when deciding what the pick to make on a specific game is.

On Sunday, two games fall into categories similar to what has been described above as trap games or look ahead games. The two games are Oakland visiting Washington and Pittsburgh traveling to Chicago.

The Raiders and Steelers both play non-conference road games one week prior to playing a divisional game on the road. Oakland must travel cross-country to face Washington prior to visiting AFC West rivals Denver during Week 4, while Pittsburgh visits Chicago in Week 3 then travels to face AFC North rivals Baltimore during Week 4.

The thought process is that divisional games are much more important for teams than games against a non-conference opponent. However, logic tells us that all 16 games during the season have the same value, but logic is not always at work when it comes to betting on the NFL.

Teams may or may not lose focus the week prior to an important divisional showdown, or they just might be outplayed by their opponent on that day.

Regardless, of what the actual truth is, there must be some weight put into teams playing .333 (27-54) straight up against non-conference opponents on the road prior to an important divisional showdown on the road the next week.

As they say, at the least it is “food for thought.”

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Football Sharp Action Report

8/31/25

odds by SportsBetting.ag

Va. Tech +7.5
Miami +2.5
TCU -3.5

MLB Sharp Action Report

8/31/25

odds by SportsBetting.ag

ATL +130

 

AP Top 25 College Football Poll

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AP TeamW/LSeason StartLive Odds
1Texas0-1+600+750
2Penn State1-0+700+650
3Ohio State1-0+675+600
4Clemson0-1+850+1600
5Georgia1-0+650+650
6Notre Dame0-0+1000+900
7Oregon2-0+1200+1400
8Alabama0-1+900+1600
9LSU1-0+1200+900
10Miami FL0-0+2800+2500
11Arizona St.1-0+12500+12500
12Illinois1-0+15000+15000
13South Carolina0-0+6600+6600
14Michigan1-0+3300+3300
15Florida1-0+3300+3300
16SMU1-0+10000+10000
17Kansas State1-1+10000+75000
18Oklahoma1-0+4000+2800
19Texas A&M1-0+3300+3300
20Indiana1-0+12500+12500
21Ole Miss1-0+4000+3500
22Iowa State2-0+20000+20000
23Texas Tech1-0+10000+12500
24Tennessee1-0+6600+7500
25Boise State0-1+25000+100000