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The Oakland Raiders are a wild card this season. They could end up being one of the best teams in the league but there are many question marks surrounding this franchise. As such, they had 3/1 odds of winning the AFC West division.
Jon Gruden comes back as head coach. That alone should probably propel the Raiders to favorite status in this tight division. It has not. The LA Chargers are favored.
Indeed the Raiders are favored slightly to win fewer than 8 regular season games this season.
Gruden explains why there is little love.
“I have to do something with this opportunity,” Gruden said at the NFL owners meetings in Orlando, Fla., in March. “We’ve had one winning season in the last [15] years.”
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Regarding the offense, Athlon writes:
Gruden must get quarterback Derek Carr back on track after a rough 2017 season. Carr was an MVP candidate in 2016 until suffering a season-ending broken fibula in Week 16. He threw for 3,937 yards with 28 TDs, six interceptions and a 96.7 passer rating that year. Last season, his numbers dipped to 3,496 yards, 22 TDs, 13 interceptions and an 86.4 rating. Carr missed one game after breaking a small bone in his back against Denver on Oct. 1. To help get him back on track, Gruden hired veteran coordinator Greg Olson, who spent two years with the Raiders, including Carr’s rookie season in 2014.
The good news is that the Raiders still have most of the same players from two years ago when the team finished 12-4.
Oakland does have two talented players competing for the role of backup quarterback, and one of them might be thrust into the starting role should Carr fail to get back on track.
- Mary Montgomery, Gambling911.com
