Oakland Raiders Schedule A Mixed Bag, Will Be A Tough Road To Travel
By Kevin Saito
The Oakland Raiders are looking at the league’s fourth-toughest schedule this season, making it a tough road to travel if they want to make it back to the postseason.
If there is one Silver (and Black) lining to the Oakland Raiders’ schedule for the 2017 season – fourth toughest in the league – it’s that the teams with the three tougher schedules happen to reside in their division.
The AFC West, thought to be one of the better divisions in football last year, will certainly get a chance to prove it as the Broncos, Chiefs, Chargers and Raiders make up the four toughest schedules in the entire league. Mere percentage points separate first from fourth, meaning all four teams in the division are looking at a tough road if they want to earn a playoff berth in 2017.
In looking at the Raiders’ 2017, you can’t help but think it’s a real mixed bag. They open the season with three of four on the road – and then close the season with three of four on the road. And in between, they’ve got the game in Mexico City with the Patriots which is preceded by two weeks on the East Coast – Buffalo and Miami.
The schedule makers apparently cut the team a little bit of slack though – the back to back games in the EST are followed by the team’s bye week, and they come out of that week off to face New England in the International Series game. So – it could have been worse.
The Raiders also have five prime-time games this season, the first in week three on the road (of course) in Washington. They also have a Thursday night matchup at home with the Chiefs, a Sunday night game in Miami, a Sunday night game in Oakland with the Cowboys, and a Christmas night game in Philadelphia – let’s hope they pack the cold weather gear for that one.
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Unlike some teams in the league – yeah, we’re looking at you, Indianapolis – there are no easy weeks in this schedule for the Raiders. They are going to have to battle and scrape for every win if they want to replicate their 12-4 showing from last season and earn another playoff berth.
The combined record of Oakland’s opponents this year is 144-111-1, for a winning percentage of .564. But included in that record and percentage are some fairly brutal stretches as well. It’s a step up in competition from the combined winning percentage of .500 they faced when the schedules were released prior to last season.
The only comfort they can take is that based on the strength of schedules, the other teams in the AFC West will be playing schedules as difficult as theirs. No team in the division is going to have an easy road.
The division title was within grasp last season. If not for Derek Carr’s injury, who knows what might have happened. But now, the team is reset, reloaded, and ready to go. That goal is once again attainable and should be their number one priority.
If these Raiders want to continue ascending, if they want to make another run to the playoffs – and go deeper – they’re going to have to play everybody in front of them. And beat them.