Oakland Raiders: Ranking 2018 games from least to most difficult
By Kevin Saito
Week 14: Pittsburgh Steelers (2)
The Steelers are going to prove to be a tough game to get for the Raiders. To win this game, they are going to need to come out strong, and the defense will need to be stifling.
Ben Roethisberger is still playing at a very high level, and with weapons like Antonio Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Le’Veon Bell at his disposal, you can expect more fireworks from what was the league’s third-best overall offense last year.
They’re also going to need to deal with a defense that ranked fifth overall last year, and is returning many of the same players.
This is going to be one of the toughest games on Oakland’s schedule, and it’s not even close.
Week 1: Los Angeles Rams (1)
The Rams are the toughest game on Oakland’s schedule – just as they’re probably the toughest game on most every other team’s schedule as well.
The Rams, building off the success of an 11-5 season, and their first playoff appearance since 2004, went out and loaded up this offseason. The Rams appear to be playing in “win now” mode, by bringing Ndamukong Suh, Sam Shields, Brandin Cooks, Aqib Talib, and Marcus Peters to fortify their position groups.
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All of those faces will be joining Jared Goff and Todd Gurley, to form a team that should rule the NFC. There is barely a weakness to be found on that roster, from top to bottom, on either side of the ball. Teams in the NFC are going to be hard pressed to keep up with this Rams squad.
And getting this super team straight out of the gate is going to be a very tough assignment for a Raiders team who will still be looking to solidify their own identity.
It’s a tough task to get this team right off the bat and Oakland is going to need to play well above their head to keep up.