Oakland Raiders: Five Games To Circle On Team’s 2016 Schedule

Week 7 @ Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars will be an interesting team to watch this season. After spending big in free agency this season, this is not the same Jaguars team that finished the season 5-11 in 2015.

Jacksonville, with even more money to spend than Oakland this offseason, Jackson fortified their defense by adding the likes of Malik Jackson, Prince Amukamara, and Tashaun Gipson.They also helped beef up their offense by adding offensive linemen Mackenzie Bernadeau and Kelvin Beachum to help protect young quarterback Blake Bortles, and a top flight running back in Chris Ivory to help carry the offensive burden.

The Jaguars are pretty certain to be a better team in 2016 than they were in 2015 – with one caveat. And that caveat is the continued development of Bortles.

The third overall pick in 2014, Bortles had a rough rookie season, but rebounded mightily in 2015, throwing for 4,428 yards and 35 touchdowns. Without a lot of offensive talent around him – not to mention a shaky offensive line that helped drop 51 sacks on him last year – Bortles still managed to lead an offense that ranked fourteenth in the league last season. With the upgrades Jacksonville has made this offseason, that ranking should go up.

The game against the Jaguars while not necessarily key to Oakland’s success in 2016, will be a good one to watch as Derek Carr faces off against a quarterback taken well ahead of him in the draft, and one many believed would make a stronger franchise quarterback.

The Jaguars and the Raiders are two teams who appear to be on the rise within their respective divisions and this meeting between the two, might show who has the upper hand in the race to the top.

Next: Week Twelve