It didn’t take Doug Pederson long to reach the top of the mountain during his tenure as head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles, as he led the team to its first Super Bowl championship in just his second year. The Jacksonville Jaguars are hoping history repeats itself after naming Pederson the ninth coach in franchise history in February. The 54-year-old’s monumental task begins Thursday, when the Jaguars (3-14) kick off the NFL preseason against the Las Vegas Raiders (10-7) in the 2022 NFL Hall of Fame Game. Jacksonville has endured four straight losing seasons during which it recorded a total of 15 games after reaching the AFC Championship Game in 2017.
Kickoff from Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium in Canton, Ohio is scheduled for 8 p.m. ET. The line is pick’em in the latest Raiders vs. Jaguars odds at Caesars Sportsbook, while the over-under for total points scored is 30.5. Before locking in any Jaguars vs. Raiders picks or 2022 NFL Hall of Fame Game predictions, make sure you check out what SportsLine NFL expert Larry Hartstein has to say.
A former lead writer for Covers and The Linemakers, Hartstein combines a vast network of Vegas sources with an analytical approach he honed while working for Pro Football Focus. Entering the 2022 NFL season, he is 427-344 all-time on NFL sides (plus $3,764 for $100 players), including 394-330 against the spread.
Hartstein went 68-50 ATS (58 percent) and 8-3 on money-line plays last season for a profit of $1,552. Anybody who has been following him is way up.
Now, Hartstein has locked in on Raiders vs. Jaguars from every angle and released a confident against-the-spread pick for the NFL Hall of Fame Game 2022. You can visit SportsLine now to see his picks. Here are several NFL odds and trends for Jaguars vs. Raiders:
- Raiders vs. Jaguars spread: PK
- Raiders vs. Jaguars over/under: 30.5 points
- Raiders vs. Jaguars money line: Las Vegas -110, Jacksonville -110
- LV: Raiders have won all three of their previous appearances in the Hall of Fame Game
- JAX: Jaguars lost to Carolina in their only previous Hall of Fame Game in 1995
- Raiders vs. Jaguars picks: See picks here.
Featured Game | Las Vegas Raiders vs. Jacksonville Jaguars
Why the Raiders can cover
Even though both teams likely won’t be using many of their starters, Las Vegas could attempt to win at all costs. The reason is new coach Josh McDaniels, who helped New England go 9-2 over its last three preseasons while serving as its offensive coordinator and played in Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium over his high-school career. Derek Carr isn’t expected to be on the field after he didn’t take a single snap last preseason, so McDaniels will get long looks at Nick Mullens and Jarrett Stidham on Thursday.
The 27-year-old Mullens made 16 starts for San Francisco from 2018-20 but just one with Cleveland last season, going 20-for-30 for 147 yards and a touchdown in a 16-14 loss to the Raiders in Week 15. He has completed 64.6 percent of his pass attempts for 4,861 yards with 26 TDs and 22 interceptions in 20 career NFL contests. Stidham spent the last three years with McDaniels in New England and was 24-of-48 passing for 270 yards with two TDs and four picks in eight games.
Why the Jaguars can cover
Pederson won’t allow many of Jacksonville’s starters, including Trevor Lawrence and Travis Etienne, to suit up in the NFL Hall of Fame Game 2022, and backup quarterback C.J. Beathard also will be inactive due to a groin injury. That will leave the duties of running the offense to Jake Luton and Kyle Sloter, who have played in a combined total of three NFL regular-season games. All three of those appearances belong to Luton, who made three starts for the Jaguars in 2020.
The 26-year-old from Oregon State, who spent some time on Seattle’s roster last season before returning to Jacksonville in February for a second stint, completed 60-of-110 passes for 624 yards with two touchdowns and six interceptions in those contests while scoring a 13-yard TD on his only rushing attempt. Sloter still is waiting to throw his first NFL regular-season pass as he joins his seventh club, but he received valuable experience with the USFL’s New Orleans Breakers earlier this year, as he finished second in the league with 1,798 passing yards in nine games. The 28-year-old is familiar with the field in Canton, as he was 22-of-40 for 328 yards with a TD and two picks as New Orleans lost to Birmingham on June 25 in the Division Finals.
How to make Raiders vs. Jaguars picks
Hartstein has analyzed this matchup and while we can tell you he’s leaning Under on the point total, he has discovered a critical X-factor that has him jumping all over one side of the spread. He’s only sharing what it is, and which side to back, at SportsLine.
Who wins the 2022 Hall of Fame Game? And which critical X-factor makes one side of the spread a must-back? Visit SportsLine now to see Larry Hartstein’s Raiders vs. Jaguars picks, all from the NFL expert who’s 427-344 all-time on NFL sides, and find out.