As someone who’s been fooled by the Oakland Raiders before, it can be so easy to fall back into the trap. Last year, banking on improvement from the defense and quarterback Derek Carr, I picked the Raiders in the preseason to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LII. They didn’t even finish with a winning record.
Still, as Sean McVay showed last season, a good, new coach can change a team’s fortunes quickly. Jon Gruden made his way out of the Monday Night Football broadcast booth to return to Oakland, where his head coaching career began. He could lead just as quick a turnaround in Oak-Town.
Though the Raiders finished 6-10 last season, the oddsmakers at BetDSI Sportsbook are prepping for a better season in Gruden’s return to the Bay Area. Here are the odds.
Oakland Raiders 2018-19 Regular Season Win Total
Over 8.5 (-114)
Under 8.5 (+116)
Much like a dancer at a Myrtle Beach strip club, the Raiders are easy to fall in love with but can easily break your heart and cost you lots of cash. This is a team with legitimate stars on both sides of the ball. Guys that will carry the NFL torch for the next decade or so, especially Carr. There’s no excuse for a 6-10 finish last year and Jack Del Rio was rightly fired.
What few holes Oakland had, Gruden has addressed in the draft and free agency. He brought in Jordy Nelson from the Green Bay Packers and traded for Martavis Bryant from the Pittsburgh Steelers. They’ll share the field with Amari Cooper and tight end Jared Cook, who both dealt with serious cases of butterfingers last year. For Cooper, it was hopefully a one-time ailment. For Cook, I think it’s congenital.
Bruce Irvin on Jon Gruden: “I’ve never seen a person’s face stay red for a whole seven periods in practice.”
— Matt Schneidman (@mattschneidman) May 22, 2018
Carr is, unquestionably, the first franchise quarterback Gruden has ever gotten his hands on as a head coach. He utilized talented, high-end back ups and retreads in his previous stint with the Raiders and Tampa Bay Buccaneers, winning most of his games with Brad Johnson and Rich Gannon. Carr will give Gruden the opportunity to finally show just how good (or bad) he is. There are no excuses this time.
On defense, Gruden added significant power to an already solid defensive front with three draft picks that will push for playing time immediately. 2017 first round pick Gareon Conley was a star at corner last season and should be much improved with Paul Guenther calling the defense.
Jon Gruden wants to “empower” Derek Carr at the line of scrimmage “a little bit like Peyton Manning” https://t.co/ja8IaZ6LYa
— Raiders Beat (@RaidersBeat) May 25, 2018
When looking at the Raiders’ schedule, they can prove a lot in the opening month of the season. They open in the Monday Night late game hosting the Los Angeles Rams and that’s probably a loss. Over the next three weeks they play at the Denver Broncos, at the Miami Dolphins and then host the Cleveland Browns. A 3-1 start wouldn’t be ridiculous. Certainly anything less than 2-2 start would be a disaster.
Rolling through the rest of the schedule, a 10-win season wouldn’t surprise me here. After Week 12, the only team on their schedule that can match them in talent is the Pittsburgh Steelers. If Patrick Mahomes stumbles in Kansas City at all, and the OTA reports aren’t great, the AFC West will be wide open. I say go with Gruden and take the over.
