The current win total for the Las Vegas Raiders this season sits at 8.5 on Tipico Sportsbook. That seems awfully low for a team that went to the playoffs last year and made some significant upgrades on both sides of the ball.
However, the AFC West is as difficult as ever and the Raiders have an absolutely brutal stretch to finish the year. But can they still win more than eight games this season?
In a recent article by Paul Gutierrez of ESPN, he predicted that the Raiders would go over their 2022 win total and that they would be back in the playoffs. Here is a snippet of Gutierrez’s thoughts on the Silver and Black entering the year:
“That over/under of 8.5 seems insulting, given the Raiders are coming off a 10-win playoff season, improved across the roster and joined the 21st century with an elite playcaller in new coach Josh McDaniels.
That’s on paper, though, and the offensive line still has to protect quarterback Derek Carr, who will need time to deliver the ball downfield to college bestie Davante Adams.”
As long as the Raiders can stay relatively healthy, they should go over their win total of 8.5. They are just too talented of a team to go 8-9 or worse this season despite their schedule.