Raiders' Odds to Make the Playoffs Are Disrespectful

The Las Vegas Raiders touted one of the most productive offenses in the league in 2020, but their struggles on defense led them to an 8-8 record and another playoff-less season. After some key additions in free agency and the draft, they're ready to break their four-year postseason drought.

Yet they're still not getting the respect they deserve from oddsmakers.

Raiders Playoff Odds

Las Veags currently has +350 odds to make the playoffs, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. The Raiders are heavily favored to miss the playoffs (-480), which is disrespectful for a few reasons.

First off, with the right breaks, Las Vegas should absolutely challenge for a playoff spot in the AFC. They had a top-10 offense in both scoring and total yards, which should only continue after the addition of Kenyan Drake. A core of Derek Carr, Josh Jacobs, Darren Waller and Drake gives Las Vegas the firepower it needs to hang with anyone in the league.

The Raiders also prioritized defensive upgrades this offseason after finishing No. 28 in Football Outsiders' defensive DVOA metric. They added a premium pass-rusher in Yannick Ngakoue and addressed weaknesses in the secondary by signing veteran cornerback Casey Hayward Jr. and drafting safety Trevon Moehrig in the second round.

All of these improvements position the Raiders as a conceivable playoff team, rather than a longshot. It's absurd that the Jacksonville Jaguars, who finished 1-15 last year, have better odds at +330 to make the playoffs.

It'd be no surprise at all to see the Raiders prove the doubters wrong by the end of the 2021-22 campaign.

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Isaiah De Los Santos is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Isaiah De Los Santos also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username zayyy05328. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.