Entering the third year of Jon Gruden’s rebuild, the Raiders are looking like a team that is ready to take a step this season. They’ve added talent at receiver and completely retooled the defense over the offseason.
But what should the expectation be for the Raiders this season? Given their incredibly difficult schedule in the first two months of the year, it’s not unrealistic to think they could start the season off slow. But is eight wins a reasonable target for the Raiders?
In a recent piece by Kristopher Knox of Bleacher Report, he predicted every team’s win-loss record for the 2020 season. As for the Raiders, he anticipates them winning eight games this year. Here are Knox’s thoughts on Las Vegas this season:
It may take time for things to come together for the Raiders, who narrowly missed the playoffs with a 7-9 record last season. A tough early schedule isn’t going to help matters. Las Vegas opens with a winnable game against the Carolina Panthers, but its next four contests are against the New Orleans Saints, New England Patriots, Buffalo Bills and Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders should be better in 2020, though perhaps not significantly so in the win column.
While eight wins might not seem like a big achievement for the Raiders, it would keep them in the playoff hunt with an extra team going to the tournament in each conference this season. And as previously mentioned, their schedule is among the hardest in the NFL.
If the Raiders can get to eight or more wins this season, it would be another sign that Gruden has the team trending in the right direction. Look for the 2020 Raiders to be a much better team this year even if they only win one or two more games than in the previous season.
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