It’s still early in the 2024 NFL season, but we’ve seen enough in nine weeks to separate some of legitimate teams from the frauds.
The Kansas City Chiefs, as expected, have proven that they’re Super Bowl contenders, once more. The Baltimore Ravens are also demonstrating that they’ll be in contention this year.
And the Las Vegas Raiders? It’s hard to say what the summary will be once the curtain falls on the 2024 NFL season. Yet, though we’re little more than a third of the way through the season, the signs are good.
The Jurors Aren’t Impressed
If you put your trust in your eyes and Pro Football Focus, the Las Vegas Raiders aren’t doing well.
They were ranked in 29th place (out of only 32 places) recently, with PFF giving them a paltry 8% chance of making the playoffs. Not that fans necessarily needed those insights to deduce that the Raiders aren’t playing at their highest level.
The Chiefs winning and the Raiders losing has become one of the most popular parlays for the 2024 season, which about says it all.
There’s still time to turn it around, of course, but if that’s to happen, it’ll have to happen sooner rather than later.
The Davante Adams Situation Has Had an Impact
No one was surprised that Davante Adams made the transfer from Las Vegas to New York. That Adams would end up playing for the New York Jets seemed to be on the cards for months.
The Raiders are pleased that the saga is over. The only problem is that it might not be over in terms of the rest of the team.
A year ago, it felt that the Raiders were on their way towards building something. There was a good energy in and around the place. Today, it’s unclear how many of their players want to be there. There’s a chance some decide to follow Adams out the door after the season.
Again, this isn’t a terminal problem. You could argue that it’d be strange if everyone looked like they were having a great time, since this is currently a losing team. Still, having a less-than-happy locker room rarely bodes well for the future, so this is something that’ll need to be addressed.
The QB Situation Needs Resolving
And this dynamic of the team needs to be resolved sooner rather than later. Minshew has been entirely unconvincing when he has started, and O’Connell is far from proven. There will be some interesting conversations at the end of the season if neither quarterback proves that they have what it takes to drag the franchise out of the gutter.
If they don’t step up soon, the Raiders will absolutely need to find a quarterback in the draft.
Tom Brady’s Arrival Signifies…Something!
Oddly enough, the biggest story of the Las Vegas Raiders’ season might be something that happens off the field. Tom Brady’s arrival as a part owner of the team was met with surprise by many pundits, but what Raiders fans will really care about is what he’ll bring to the team.
First of all, it’s unlikely that Brady will simply be a silent partner. He’s got too much football running through his veins for that to happen. For certain, he’ll help to draw more interest — and more sponsors — to Las Vegas. It also won’t be surprising if Brady can attract top talent, both players and coaches, to join the Raiders. After all, when you’re probably the best player who’s ever been in the sport, people tend to pick up the phone.
However, we’ll have to wait to see the depth of Brady’s involvement, since he does have many TV commitments that keep him busy.
Hey we are the BROWNS, OOOOOHHH, I MEAN RAIDERS LOL, Seriously we are as bad as the Browns organization 🤣 😂 😬 😅
Lets Hope Tom can convince MD to stop making decisions, let Tom try his hand, heck it’s VEGAS, Give it a shot Tom, at this point I think we try it.