Vegas Play of the Day: Steelers at Raiders

By Ray Brewer (contact)

Sunday, Nov. 8, 2015 | 7:24 a.m.

We've reset the Play of the Day with fresh bankrolls and turned it into a yearly competition. Our three sports writers have re-started with $10,000 bankrolls to continue using on odds from the South Point.

Pittsburgh Steelers minus-4 vs. Oakland Raiders: DeAngelo Williams, with a full week of practice to takeover for the injured Le’Veon Bell, will be a sufficient replacement in the Pittsburgh backfield. He’s already proven this season to be more than capable.

When Williams was the starter earlier in the season, he had 127 yards rushing against the New England Patriots, and three touchdowns the following week against the San Francisco 49ers. While there will be a dropoff in replacing Bell, who is arguably the NFL’s best running back, it won’t be as significant as the betting number against the Raiders indicates. The Steelers laying just four points is way too low.

Oakland’s rush defense was amazing last week in limiting the New York Jets’ Chris Ivory to 17 yards on 15 carries, and the Raiders have the second best rush defense in the NFL in surrendering 82 yards per game. But the Steelers can also throw the football and should be much improved this week in Ben Roethlisberger’s second game back from injury.

More important, Oakland is traveling cross country for a 10 a.m. start. Regardless of the level of football, or quality of the team, West coast squads playing in early-morning games on the East coast is a formula for a bad performance.

Current Standings (as of July 1): Brewer (20-16, $10,770), Bern (13-19, $7,750), Keefer (14-27-2, $4,901)

Lifetime standings: 2014-15 Champion Bern (94-92-1), Brewer (89-103-2), Keefer (98-111-4)

Ray Brewer can be reached at 702-990-2662 or [email protected]. Follow Ray on Twitter at twitter.com/raybrewer21