Raiders: Analyzing the 4 hardest games on the 2020 schedule
By Seth Carlson
The NFL released schedules for all 32 teams Thursday Night. With the Las Vegas Raiders set to begin a new era at Allegiant Stadium in 2020, let’s look at some of their toughest scheduled matchups.
We already knew the opponents. Now we know when and where.
The Las Vegas Raiders, along with the 31 other NFL franchises, received their 2020 schedules Thursday night. This is an especially important season for the Raiders, who will look to get off to a fast start in a new location as they try to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2016 season.
The team will get multiple opportunities to show off newly-minted Allegiant Stadium in front of a national audience, receiving four prime-time showdowns, or half of their eight-game home slate.
As for the schedule itself, Las Vegas’ strength of opponents (based on combined winning percentage from 2019) ranks 27th in the NFL, a byproduct of a season that saw the team finish 7-9 and second-to-last in the AFC West during the 2019 season.
However, a schedule that may be perceived as “easy” is never actually easy, especially with the “any given Sunday” nature of the league.
As such, there are sure to be plenty of potential roadblocks, not counting the division games, on the docket for Jon Gruden’s 2020 squad. Let’s examine some of those.