The Silver and Black is back, and now they’ve even gone beast mode. Earning their first playoff spot since 2002 with a 12-4 record and an AFC wildcard berth, the Oakland Raiders continued their rise. They took significant steps forward in 2015, their first year under head coach Jack Del Rio, jumping from 3-13 to 7-9. Offensively, they are loaded in the skill positions. Derek Carr, armed with an NFL-record $125 million contract extension, is a legitimate stud at quarterback, whose gunslinger attributes are already being compared to that of Brett Favre.
How far could the Raiders have gone in the playoffs if Carr hadn’t suffered a fractured fibula in a Week 16 game against Indianapolis? We may find that answer out this season.
There’s a stellar 1-2 punch at receiver in Amari Cooper, the Raiders’ first rookie wideout to post a 1,000-yard season and Michael Crabtree. And added to that is former Seattle running back Marshawn (Beast Mode) Lynch. If he can regain his pre-retirement form as the game’s most dominant power back, the Raiders just might have the NFL’s best offense.
Best Oakland Raiders Betting Lines
We provide the best Raiders betting lines below so keep your eye on them and find the game that is most appealing. Don’t forget to take into account the variety of betting types.
Oakland Raiders Regular Season Schedule
The Oakland Raiders regular season schedule is listed right and and it’s an interesting start followed by a difficult finish that the Raiders will face.
Oakland opens with three non-playoff teams, but finishes with five of their last seven against 2016-17 NFL postseason participants, including a Week 12 game with Super Bowl champion New England in Mexico City.
What Are The Oakland Raiders Standings
If you want to know where the Oakland Raiders are situated in the AFC West standings, this is the place to go.
Oakland’s 2016 wildcard playoff berth led to the Raiders’ first postseason action since winning the AFC West title in 2002. Facing opposition with a combined .564 winning percentage from the previous season figures to make the road ahead for the Raiders tough sledding.
How To Win Oakland Raiders Bets
While climbing the ladder back to respectability, the Raiders are again on the move in another fashion. The team announced plans to move to Las Vegas for the 2020 NFL season, although the switch could come as early as 2019 if work on a new stadium is completed by then.
How will this impending departure impact how the Raiders are received by their vociferous and extremely loyal fan base, and could it impact how you should be betting on Oakland this season? Well, there is a track record for his kind of movement with this franchise.
In 1982, the Raiders abandoned the Bay Area for Los Angeles. They returned to Oakland in 1995 but the same issues with O.co Stadium remained, an ancient grass field that the Raiders share with Major League Baseball's Oakland Athletics, leaving a harsh dirt infield for the teams to deal with every football game. The Raiders are the only NFL team left that shares its stadium with an MLB franchise.
Bovada doesn't seem to see it as any sort of deterrent for wagering on Raiders games. They project the Raiders as +1200 in their Super Bowl 52 future book, co-third picks to win it all with the Seattle Seahawks, Pittsburgh Steelers and Dallas Cowboys.
The Raiders and Indianapolis/Baltimore Colts are the only franchises in NFL history to win the Super Bowl while representing two different cities. The Raiders won Super Bowls XI and XV as the Oakland Raiders and captured Super Bowl XVIII as the Los Angeles Raiders.
The Raiders are the only team thus far to represent both the AFL and AFC in a Super Bowl game. The Raiders lost Super Bowl II 33-14 to the Green Bay Packers in 1968.
The only two other AFL teams to play in the Super Bowl, the New York Jets (Super Bowl III) and Kansas City Chiefs (Super Bowls I and IV) have never returned to the big game since the NFL-AFL merger in 1970.
The Raiders were also the first NFL team to win the Super Bowl as a wildcard playoff team when they beat the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 in Super Bowl XV.
