Oakland Raiders vs NY Giants Pick

NFL Week 5 Sunday, Oct. 11 - 1 p.m. Eastern - CBS Oakland Raiders (1-3) at New York Giants (4-0)

On paper, Sunday's Oakland Raiders at New York Giants game looks like one of the biggest mismatches of the entire 2009 NFL season. However, the Raiders and Giants have one thing in common: Both have beaten the hapless Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium this season.

Unfortunately for Oakland fans, that's where the similarities between the Raiders and Giants would seem to end.

CBS will televise the Raiders-Giants game regionally Sunday beginning at 1 p.m. Oakland has looked like one of the NFL's worst teams while compiling a 1-3 record behind a dismal offense. New York, meanwhile, has won three straight road games en route to a 4-0 record, holding three of its first four opponents to 17 or fewer points.

The early line lists New York as a 13-point favorite in the Raiders-Giants game. Only the Saints (-14) against the Lions in Week 1 and the Ravens (-13.5) against the Browns in Week 3 have been bigger favorites than the Giants over the Raiders this season.

Entering the Raiders-Giants game, the Oakland offense has been very poor, having scored just one touchdown in its last three games. The New York defense, meanwhile, had not allowed a touchdown in seven consecutive quarters before Kansas City scored a pair of meaningless fourth-quarter touchdowns last Sunday in a 27-16 loss to the Giants. Two weeks earlier, the Raiders scored a late touchdown to edge Kansas City, 13-10.

The Giants are 3-0-1 ATS this season, including 2-0-1 ATS as a favorite. New York was a double-digit favorite twice last season, winning 29-17 against San Francisco as a 10-point favorite and winning 26-23 in overtime against Cincinnati as a 13-point favorite.

The Raiders are 2-2 ATS this season, playing all four games as an underdog. Oakland has been a double-digit underdog five times in its last 20 games, going 4-1 ATS. As a double-digit underdog in road games, the Raiders have won three straight games ATS.

2009: Chargers (-10) 24, at Raiders 20 2008: Raiders 31, at Buccaneers (-11) 24 2008: at Dolphins (-10) 17, Raiders 15 2008: Panthers (-10) 17, at Raiders 6 2008: at Bills (-10) 24, Raiders 23

The Raiders and Giants last met in 2005 in Oakland, where the Raiders lost to the Giants, 30-21. New York was a 7.5-point favorite in that game.

The biggest hurdle for New York in the Raiders-Giants game might be resisting the urge to look ahead to an Oct. 18 matchup with the undefeated Saints in New Orleans.