Are The Oakland Raiders A Sleeper?

It might seem a little early to talk some football betting – especially when it is a different type of football that is all the talk of the town nowadays (World Cup football betting) – but we just a couple of months away from kickoff. So let’s kickoff some early NFL predictions: the Oakland Raiders will surprise many pundits and NFL betting fans this season when their prove to be a competitive squad.

Now temper expectations here; nobody is suggesting that the Raiders are going to win the Super Bowl or that they are even a playoff contender in the tough AFC. But make no bones about it: Oakland has improved.

For starters, this is a team that finished with wins in three of their last seven games. Yes, that does sound laughable but for Oakland, a 3-4 finish is very encouraging.

Consider that this team hasn’t had a functional quarterback in years. They started the likes of JaMarcus Russell, Charlie Frye and Bruce Gradkowski last year. Even J.P. Losman was an option one week. We all know that you don’t go anywhere in the NFL without a quarterback, but the Raiders finally have one.



In the offseason, the Raiders picked up Jason Campbell on the cheap and while he was sacrificed for an upgrade in Washington, he is a huge upgrade for Oakland. He’s heavily criticized but the truth is that he’s good enough to be an NFL starter and he’ll win games. At the very least, he won’t lose many games for you like Russell did.

Speaking of Russell, the Raiders released him, which was a very positive move to release the burden off the offense. Now they can grow around Campbell and with a decent running game, they are beginning to have the constituents of something serviceable.

On defense, they kept Richard Seymour, acquired John Henderson, traded for Kamerion Wimbley and drafted Rolando McClain. Not bad for a unit that already has Nnamdi Asomugha and Thomas Howard.

This team isn’t necessarily a power player by any means but they should be competitive. The AFC West is weak as the Denver Broncos have taken a step back while the Kansas City Chiefs are under construction. A second place finish and an OVER in their regular season win total – whatever it is going to be set at in the sportsbook – looks like a shrewd bet right now.