It will be the teacher versus the student Sunday when Bill Belichick and the Patriots face Josh McDaniels and the Raiders in Las Vegas.

It will be the teacher versus the student Sunday when Bill Belichick and the Patriots face Josh McDaniels and the Raiders in Las Vegas. To say the teacher has a coaching edge might be the understatement of the decade.

Last week, I gave out the Patriots over the Cardinals on Monday night. Before that matchup, I pointed out one simple fact: New England beats up on bad teams and struggles against tougher competition. The Patriots’ seven wins are against teams with a combined record of 30-43-1. New England’s six losses have come against teams with a combined record 43-32. The only team the Pats have beaten with a winning record this season is the Jets (twice).

The Raiders certainly qualify as a bad team, sitting at 5-8 in McDaniels’ first season. More important is how Las Vegas loses games. Last week, the Raiders suffered another last-minute, gut-wrenching loss by letting Baker Mayfield, who had been on the Rams’ roster for about five minutes, lead a game-winning drive. You have to wonder where the Raiders are mentally after that game.

Not only does Belichick have a massive coaching edge, the matchup sets up nicely for New England. The Patriots’ much-criticized offense can have issues moving the football, but that shouldn’t be a problem against a Las Vegas defense that ranks 25th in the NFL and allows 24.1 points per game.

The Patriots are still very much in the playoff hunt, and this feels like another below-average team they can beat up on. Add it all up and I’ll take the small number with New England on the road.

The play: Patriots +1.5.