Each NFL team’s record prediction for the 2019 season

Oakland Raiders: 8-8

Plenty of teams will be facing heavy pressure to take the next step to contender status during the 2019 season, but the argument can be made that no team will be scrutinized as much as the Oakland Raiders.

Last offseason, the Raiders seemed convinced that rewarding Jon Gruden with a ridiculous 10-year contract would result in the team becoming immediate playoff contenders again in the AFC once again, but that was far from the case.

Instead, Oakland turned out to be one of the biggest disappointments from the 2018 season after only winning four games, putting a ton of extra pressure to turn things around moving forward.

So do the Raiders have what it takes to make this happen? Based off their amazing offseason that saw numerous big moves such as the trade that led to Antonio Brown coming on board, Oakland will be in great position to hopefully pull this off.

However, just because the Raiders found plenty of success over the last couple of months doesn’t necessarily mean their success is guaranteed to happen. Playing in the tough AFC West won’t make things any easier.

But at least with Brown expected to immediately become Derek Carr’s favorite target, Oakland will be in better position when compared to last season since the talent alone will be a huge difference maker.

Predicting an 8-8 finish will make some Raiders fans upset, but until this team finds a way to prove themselves capable of competing with the best, it only seems fair for now.