Its Not Unreasonable to Expect a Raiders Playoff Berth

After all they went through last season, the Las Vegas Raiders still barely missed the playoffs. At one point during last season, the Raiders averaged the least amount of yards per game, their starting quarterback led the National Football League in interceptions -- even after missing multiple games with injuries -- and they fired their head coach.

Few teams in the league faced as many obstacles on and off the field as the Raiders did last season. Once they fired Josh McDaniels around the halfway point of the season, the Raiders turned to rookie quarterback Aidan O'Connell to lead the team through the second half of the season. With his second head coach and second offensive coordinator of his first season in the league, O'Connell would guide the team to a 5-4 record down the stretch.

As admirable as his performance was, it must be noted that the Raiders beat the Kansas City Chiefs without O'Connell completing a pass after the first quarter. They fell to the Minnesota Vikings in an awful 0-3 loss where the Raiders defense pitched a shutout for nearly the entire game. 

The Raiders hit the road late in the season to face the Indianapolis Colts and lost the game, but a handful of close plays could have resulted in the game going either way. However, that is the nature of the NFL; teams need a little luck on their side sometimes, and Las Vegas, more often than not, did not have it.

After the moves they have made so far this offseason and the additional moves they are expected to make via free agency and the NFL Draft, assuming they have a productive training camp, it is far from unreasonable to expect the Raiders to clinch a playoff berth. While the Chiefs have won the division for most of the last decade, there are also now seven playoff spots available. 

If the Raiders' additions this offseason and changes to the coaching staff can lead to even two or three more wins next season, that should be enough for them to clinch a spot in the playoffs next season. Considering how close they were this past season, even with all that didn't go their way, there's plenty of reason to expect the Raiders' luck to change next season as they return to playoff contention. 

The NFL Draft will be held in Detroit, Mich., on April 25-27, 2024. The Las Vegas Raiders currently have the No. 13 overall pick.

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