The wait is finally over. Week 1 of the 2022 season is here and there is certainly a lot of optimism surrounding the Raiders going into the year.
The additions of Davante Adams and Chandler Jones should make this 2021 playoff team even better and with a new head coach in Josh McDaniels, they should be among the most creative teams on offense in the league.
However, not everyone is sold that the Raiders will be a playoff team this season. In fact, some don’t even believe they will have a winning record.
In a recent article by ESPN, they listed every team’s win total going into the 2022 season and predicted if they would go over or under that total. For the Raiders, Doug Kezirian of the Daily Wager had them going under 8.5 wins. Here is what he had to say about the Raiders heading into the season:
“There’s good reason for all the optimism, but ultimately the offensive line is a giant weakness and the division is too tough. They can improve from last season and still not have as many wins.”
The schedule is very difficult for the Raiders and it’s true that the offensive line could be an issue for them. However, both of these things were true last season for the Raiders and they still went 10-7.
You can make a case that the Raiders won’t be a playoff team in 2022, but it seems unlikely that they will win eight or fewer games this season. Take the over here and expect the Raiders to be back in playoff contention once again.
