Fresh off a surprising 10-win campaign, the Las Vegas Raiders had what many would consider a successful offseason. That included Vegas adding a highly respected head coach in Josh McDaniels and pulling off a blockbuster trade for one of the best receivers in the game, Davante Adams.
It has expectations unbelievably high for Derek Carr and Co. How much so? Bettors in Vegas are backing the Raiders to win the Super Bowl this coming February in a big way.
“We’ve already seen early action on the Raiders’ point spread and money line against the Chargers,” Red Rock Resort sportsbook director Chuck Esposito said, via the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “There isn’t anything involving the Raiders that they’re not backing.”
BetMGM has The Raiders at +650 to win the AFC West with 18-1 odds to win the conference and 30-1 odds to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in Arizona come February.
Related: Full breakdown of the initial 53-man Las Vegas Raiders roster
Expectations could be too high for the Las Vegas Raiders in 2022
Despite the good feelings in Vegas, there’s still some major issues on this roster. That includes a highly questionable offensive line in front of Carr. The Raiders just recently waived 2021 first-round pick Alex Leatherwood and had to place fellow offensive tackle Brandon Parker on season-ending injured reserve.
Stuck in an AFC West that boasts elite-level pass rushers in that of Khalil Mack, Joey Bosa, Bradley Chubb and Frank Clark, this can’t be seen as a small thing.
There’s also some question marks in the defensive secondary after the Las Vegas Raiders traded former second-round pick Trayvon Mullen to the Arizona Cardinals late last month.
To put Las Vegas’ odds into perspective, 30-1 to win the Super Bowl means +3000. That’s ahead of teams such as the Arizona Cardinals, Minnsota Vikings and Tennessee Titans.
Whether the Las Vegas Raiders can live up to these expectations remains to be seen. What we do know is that there’s been a sense of confidence installed into this team from McDaniels, who was a major part of the New England Patriots’ dynastic run. In fact, some around the league believe that this iteration of the Raiders is much closer to those Patriots team than what we’re currently seeing under Bill Belichick in New England.
“I think there is a feeling for people who’ve covered the Patriots for a long time, that they can’t believe what they are seeing from them so far. The way things played out in the last preseason game vs the Raiders, just confirmed what we’ve all been thinking and in some cases saying. It’s taking us all by surprise the Patriots would be so complicit in their own demise. In his first yr as HC Josh Mcdaniels’ team looks more like the Patriots than the Patriots do … unreal.”
Former New England Patriots star Ted Johnson on the Las Vegas Raiders
Las Vegas will have a chance to prove itself out of the game immediately with a Week 1 outing agianst the division-rival Los Angeles Chargers before games against the Arizona Cardinals, Tennessee Titans, Denver Broncos and Kansas City Chiefs in what is a difficult start to the season.