Raiders’ Super Bowl Odds Plummet
The Oakland Raiders’ odds to win Super Bowl LI have predictably plummeted following the season-ending injury to quarterback Derek Carr.
According to oddsmakers from online sports book BetDSI, the Raiders are now 40/1 long shots to win Super Bowl LI after being as low as 9/1 this season. The team still owns the No. 2 seed behind the New England Patriots in the AFC at 12-3, but a slip-up against the Broncos in Week 17 could cost the Raiders the AFC West if the Chiefs also beat the Chargers. Both Oakland and Kansas City would be 12-4 under that scenario, but the Chiefs hold the tiebreaker against the Raiders by virtue of beating them twice this season.
Carr suffered a broken fibula in the fourth quarter of the Raiders’ win over the Colts in Oakland on Christmas Eve day. The injury ends Carr’s remarkable season and casts doubt over a Raiders team that was considered a legitimate Super Bowl contender. Backup Matt McGloin will serve as the team’s starter for Week 17 and as long as the Raiders are still alive in the postseason.
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The Raiders drafted Connor Cook out of Michigan State in the fourth round this past April and while he was expected to push McGloin for the backup spot behind Carr. But McGloin held off the rookie in training camp and locked up the No. 2 job in preseason. McGloin is playing under a one-year tender and is set to hit free agency next spring, so he’s essentially playing for a starting job somewhere else next season.
The good news for Oakland and McGloin is that he’ll be protected by one of the better offensive lines in all of football (Donald Penn slipped on the play that injured Carr but has otherwise been fantastic all year). Plus, with Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree in the passing game, as well as Latavius Murry in the running game, McGloin is surrounded by talented position players.
Still, he’s no Carr and the Raiders’ Super Bowl odds reflect that fact.
