Oddsmakers Showing Little Faith in Raiders Despite Playoff Appearance in 2021
By Joe Summers
The Las Vegas Raiders were one of the surprises of the NFL season, overcoming a metric ton of turmoil to finish 10-7 before narrowly losing to the eventual AFC Champion Cincinnati Bengals in the Wild Card round.
Despite their success, oddsmakers do not believe in the Raiders for the 2022 NFL Season. Las Vegas is listed at +6000 to win the 2022 Super Bowl over at WynnBET Sportsbook.
Those odds put them tied for the 23rd-longest odds to hoist the Lombardi Trophy and the 12th-longest in the AFC.
The Raiders have stability at the quarterback position and, in all likelihood, will have to overcome significantly fewer distractions next year. So why don't oddsmakers believe in them?
Why The Raiders Are Such A Long-Shot
Honestly, that the Raiders have such long odds says more about the state of the AFC than it does Las Vegas. The usual suspects are at the top of the board, with Kansas City, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Baltimore, etc. all looking poised to make a run at the Super Bowl next year.
The Raiders finished second in the AFC West and are now below the Chiefs, Chargers and Broncos in odds for next year. Sportsbooks seem to believe Aaron Rodgers is headed to Denver and that would make an already-stacked division even tougher.
Years of bad drafting under Jon Gruden and Mike Mayock is starting to catch up to the Raiders as well. They just don't have the depth to overcome the discrepancy between quarterback Derek Carr and the top signal callers in the AFC like Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, Lamar Jackson, and Justin Herbert.
Unless Las Vegas makes a huge splash in the offseason via a marquee signing or a big trade, I think they reached their ceiling in the Wild Card this year. I don't recommend taking a flier on the Raiders to win the Super Bowl and think your dollars are better spent elsewhere.