7. Super Bowl champion Oakland Raiders?
What a going away party it would be for the city of Oakland if the Raiders were able to hoist the Lombardi this upcoming February. By now, you already know that the Raiders will be relocating to Las Vegas in time for the 2020 season. That’s unfortunate for a die-hard fan base in Northern California who has seen this team struggle through two decades of cellar-dweller status. Now that the Raiders appear to be back after a 12-win 2016 campaign, they are just going to up and bolt? Life isn’t fair sometimes.
The very least this Raiders team can do is give its fans in Oakland a Super Bowl before departing for the desert metropolis. While this obviously isn’t the thinking of GM Reggie McKenzie and Co., the team has done a tremendous job building a legitimate title contender. In fact, one has to wonder how far this team would have gone if Derek Carr didn’t suffer season-ending injury in Week 16 last season.
Remember, the Raiders were on the verge of going 12-3 at the time and were a virtual lock for a first-round bye. Instead, they would end up losing in Week 17 — ultimately forcing a road playoff game in Houston with rookie Connor Cook starting in lieu of an MVP candidate. Ouch.
With all that said, the Raiders did a tremendous job closing the gap between themselves and the defending champion Patriots during the spring. Whether it was adding Marshawn Lynch, Jared Cook and Cordarrelle Patterson to the mix on offense or taking a major off-field risk with corner Gareon Conley in the draft, the Raiders added a whole heck of a lot of talent to the mix.
The question here is whether it will be enough to compete with the top dogs in the NFL. In order for this to happen, Carr must remain healthy and continue to ascend the ranks of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. After putting up 81 touchdowns and 31 picks in his first three seasons, this seems to be the likeliest scenario.
Should that happen, the next question has to surround Lynch in the backfield. Expectations seem to be mighty high for a guy that sat out last season and is on the wrong side of 30. But the Raiders will be relying on him big time with Latavius Murray now in Minnesota.
It would not be a surprise to see Oakland’s offense progress from last season’s top-seven ranking. Even then, the team’s defense must step up. Here’s a unit that ranked 24th against the pass and yielded 27 touchdowns through the air last season. That obviously must change if Jack Del Rio and Co. want to vie with New England for the AFC crown, ultimately finding a way to play in Minnesota for the Lombardi.