Will Raiders Luck Go Other Way in 2022?
In any given season, even the best teams in the NFL will win close games that could have gone the other way if luck wasn't as much on their side that day.
The Las Vegas Raiders season-ending run to the playoffs last season was a result of being able to win four games in a row by single digits.
In all, seven of the Raiders ten wins last season were won by a touchdown or less, a total that will be hard to replicate in 2022.
It's one of the biggest reasons why, despite the upgrades the Raiders have made to both sides of the ball this offseason, many analysts are still picking them to finish last in the AFC West.
Critics will point to the the fact that, despite winning 10 games, the Raiders were outscored by their opponents by 65 points.
That kind of point differential would normally belong to a team that finished with only six or seven wins on the season.
It makes it easy to say, then, that the Raiders received an inordinate amount of luck last season to get to 10 wins.
That could very well be true, but the numbers from last season also show that luck with point differentials can go the opposite way.
For example, both the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks finished last season with positive point differentials, but each team finished with only seven wins.
Even the best teams need some luck, and considering the amount of controversies the Raiders had to navigate last season, it seemed they were able to withstand not getting a lot of good luck at all.
They'll have a chance to prove this season that last year's run wasn't a fluke, and the upgrades they made could have a lot to do with that.
All-Pro talents like wide receiver Davante Adams and pass rusher Chandler Jones are more than capable of raising a team's ceiling.
Talent-wise, there's no doubt the Raiders should be better positioned next season.
If anything is going to lead them to struggle, it's having to navigate what could be one of the toughest divisions in NFL history.
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