Odds are in the Raiders favor that they will improve in 2013

The critics this off-season have been having a field day with the Oakland Raiders. If you believe their predictions then the Raiders are already guaranteed the 1st pick in next years NFL draft and there will be no reason to even think about the Raiders having any type of success this season. Well here is a nice little uplifting stat dug up by Bleacher Report's Christopher Hansen, and yes I am just as surprised as you are to have found this gem from BR.

95% of the teams since 2008 to have won 4 games or fewer the previous season have improved on that record by at least one game the following season. That is not a mistype, 95% have improved by at least one game. Just as astounding of an amount has 80% of teams improving by two wins, and an even more exciting 60% have improved by three or more wins. Not only do these numbers suggest that there is hope for the Raiders to improve, going by the recent statistical trend its actually highly probable that they improve on last season.

Of course what we know about statistics like this is that they are no guarantee but it is still very nice to have a mathematical based reason for optimism. There has been only one team since 2008 to not improve on their previous season of 4 wins or less, the Rams had 2 wins in 08 and then 1 win in 09. Now with the Raiders entirely too recent trend of mucking things up maybe they will end up being a 2nd team added to that list, but the odds are in their favor.

In order for the odds to pay off the Raiders need to make sure to play to the best of their ability. Everybody in the NFL has talented athletes, its about whoever gets the most out of their talented athletes for who wins and who loses. There might not be much talent in the eyes of many experts, but there is enough talent to improve on last season's record and the odds are that they will.

Every season we fans believe that the Raiders will finally turn things around, and that is whether or not there is a legitimate reason to believe that true. This stat is a legitimate reason to believe that the Raiders will get better this season though, mathematically it is more likely than not to happen even if the talent level according to the experts prequates to them failing miserably.

Keep your head high Raiders fans, even through losing all these years we will never lose our pride for our team. This team is heading in the right direction and if they can improve this season they will go into their cash flood with every reason to believe the tides had finally turned again. You can not keep a champion down forever, and whether people choose to forget it or not the Raiders organization is that of a champion. The front office is putting this team in a position to improve significantly, and the odds are the Raiders record will reflect that next season.