Oakland Raiders: Win-loss predictions for remainder of 2019 season
Jon Gruden’s Oakland Raiders have performed well beyond expectations but can they finish strong and make the playoffs? Predicting their final six games.
Most prognosticators were not high on the Oakland Raiders‘ chances in the 2019 NFL season before it began. They assumed that the improvements made to the roster would not be enough to keep them competitive in the stout AFC West and in the playoff picture. Through 11 weeks of action, though, any projections or predictions of that manner have been proven wrong.
Due to the criticism of his moves as the Raiders’ de-facto general manager, it seemed that the collective whole of NFL fans and analysts forgot that Jon Gruden is a great NFL coach. And as a result of that, he has a hard-nosed Oakland team at 6-4, just a half-game behind the division-leading Chiefs and eyeing a Wild Card berth in the playoffs.
The revelations for the Raiders have shown up everywhere. Derek Carr is playing arguably the best football of his career, sleepers like Maxx Crosby and Karl Joseph have emerged for an up-and-down defense, rookie Josh Jacobs has been a tremendous workhorse running back and tight end Darren Waller has been one of the best at his position in the league.
After this strong 10-game start, though, the question now becomes how this team finishes the regular season. A strong stretch run means the postseason while faltering at all means a move to Las Vegas on the back of missing the playoffs. Thus, let’s see how the Oakland Raiders finish off 2019, predicting wins and losses for their remaining six games.
Week 12 at Jets
Make no mistake, the New York Jets have looked much less like a laughingstock lately than they did earlier in the season, save for the shocking upset over the Cowboys. More importantly, this might be considered a trap game for the Raiders given that they go on the road to Arrowhead in Week 13 for an enormous showdown with the Chiefs.
While that all may be true, the recent triumphs for the Jets likely have more to do with facing the Redskins and Giants in the past two weeks. Heck, this is the team that gave Miami their first win of the season in Week 9.
Even at MetLife Stadium in a trap situation, the Raiders are a vastly superior team. The improved performance of Maxx Crosby and Clelin Ferrell off the edge should be able to take advantage of the Jets porous offensive line to pressure Sam Darnold and force him into some ill-advised decisions.
Most importantly, though, Gang Green should have little resistance to offer Carr and the Raiders offense. And while Jacobs may struggle slightly against a Jets run defense that has been quietly good this season, giving up only 79.1 yards per game, Oakland has enough through the air to win this one comfortably in Week 12.
Predicted Outcome: Win