Raiders Opinion: The AFC West Arms Race Begins

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When Aaron Rodgers announced he would be returning to the Green Bay Packers, the AFC West exhaled. Many believed the Denver Broncos could land the reigning, two-time MVP. Then, hardly an hour after the news, the Broncos traded for Russell Wilson. Although the AFC West currently enjoys three teams with playoff hopes in the final week of the season, Wilson’s arrival in Denver turns the West into even more of a “buzzsaw division”. While far-fetched, you could have four teams vying for playoff spots down the stretch. The Las Vegas Raiders look to be right in the middle of the fray.

Movin’ On Up

Oddsmakers also loved the move, as Denver’s odds to win the West jumped from +2500 to +200, landing them on the heels of the Kansas City Chiefs (+120), while the LA Chargers sit at +750 and the Las Vegas Raiders bring up the rear at +1000. When a playoff team enters the following season as the lowest odds to win their division, without suffering offseason losses, it can be a bit of a warning sign that their division will be a gauntlet in itself.

Deep Divisional QB Depth

The last three games the Raiders played were all regarded, by some, as career-defining games for Derek Carr. Now, there is a possibility of that trend continuing and evolving into a career-defining season. Not only is this the toughest the AFC West has been during Carr’s tenure, but coming off a playoff appearance should somehow lump on additional pressure for the Raiders to return. Social media posts highlighting the high-end talent of AFC West quarterbacks brought countless responses calling Carr the “odd man out”, despite driving his team to the postseason (something Wilson and Justin Herbert could not do last year).

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New Sheriff In Town

Wilson’s addition to the West also brought calls to trade Carr, which must be viewed as a gut reaction, as trading for a quarterback better than him would decimate the team moving forward. The Raiders are not built like the Rams, where a plug-and-play quarterback can instantly make them a Super Bowl favorite, but they are not a bad team either. Looking forward, the Raiders have to be incredibly aggressive in free agency, whether it be defensively to counteract the offenses they will face twice in the regular season, or offensively to keep up with them.

Realistic Optimism

The Raiders’ season is not over because Russell Wilson joined the Broncos. However, the road to the playoffs may have gotten a bit more difficult and puts more emphasis on every out-of-division matchup. In order to make the playoffs again, the Raiders can no longer be losing games to below-average teams like the Giants or the Bears, as they did last season. On the 2022 schedule, the Raiders have the AFC South and the NFC West lined up, as well as the Steelers, Patriots, and Saints (second-place finishers in other divisions). While the NFC West could be a major test, considering the opponents they could have drawn, this is a relatively favorable out-of-division schedule for a team with its eyes on the playoffs.