The NFL season is finally here and that means it’s time for all the major media outlets to make their predictions for the year. Unfortunately, not everyone believes the Raiders are ready to take the next step as a franchise.
ESPN recently ran 20,000 simulations of the 2020 NFL season and projected the Chiefs to beat the Cowboys in Super Bowl LV. Kansas City dominated the division once again, winning 11 games. Where did they project the new-look Las Vegas Raiders? The answer isn’t a good one.
After the simulations, they project the Raiders to win just five games his season and finish at the bottom of the AFC West. Worse yet, they project the Raiders finish the season with another top-five selection in the 2021 NFL Draft.
While the site does have the Raiders winning in Week 1 over the Panthers, they have them losing four of the next five games and getting off to an incredibly slow start. Given just how difficult their schedule is to start the season, it’s not unrealistic to think they could start the year 2-6.
For the Raiders to prove this simulation wrong, they are going to need to pull off a few upsets at the beginning of the season. Whether that be against the Saints, Chiefs or Patriots, they can’t afford to drop too many games in the first half of the year. But that can’t be their focus right now.
Instead, they need to get off to a fast start and beat the young Carolina Panthers in Week 1.
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