Oakland Raiders 2018 Schedule Breakdown
New head coach. New lineup. New schedule. Same objective.
The Oakland Raiders’ schedule has been released, and it’s going to be a crazy year. The first few weeks of the season are going to be huge, and December is going to be tough. The first thing to note is that the AFC West division is getting much closer this year. Last year the Raiders came third behind the dominant Chiefs and the second place Chargers, with only one more win than Denver. Oakland finished 6-10 (.375), coming off the back of their best season since 2000, winning 12 and cruising to the playoffs alongside Kansas City with an identical record (.750); however, MVP candidate, Derek Carr tragically broke his leg in Indianapolis in week 16.
The 2016 Raiders were the scariest team they’d put on the field for a decade, with a powerhouse offense that they could hardly replicate in their latest campaign. If DC4 hadn’t been injured in the final week of that season, they could have gone deep in the playoffs, and that was their goal. This aim hasn’t changed.
The Raiders want to be a playoff team, and they want to win games. If they want to live up to these expectations, they are going to have to earn some tough victories this year. But that’s what playoff teams do.
Week 1, Monday Night Football vs LA Rams.
Good start. One of the favourites for a 2018 Super Bowl are visiting on the first Monday of the year, and there are going to be some fireworks. The Rams last season were an absolute offensive machine, with Todd Gurley single-handedly terrorising opponents on the field – as well as being the highest scoring fantasy player in the entire league… in case you’re new to this sport, I should introduce you to the Raiders’ biggest weakness as a team: defending. The Raiders defense needs to improve, a lot. This is a pretty smooth transition to talk further about the Rams.
The 11-5 NFC West divisional champions have adopted an inarguable ‘win now’ mentality, and it’s terrifying. They have made some star additions to the defense to work alongside Aaron Donald – potentially the scariest individual defender in the NFL – in Ndamukong Suh and Marcus Peters, two immediate playmakers, and Aqib Talib, a veteran, physical corner. Don’t forget about recently acquired Brandin Cooks, who is one of the best deep threats in the league, and will be debuting in a Rams jersey against the Raiders leaky secondary.
And finally, off the field there is another storyline. Sean McVay, the youngest HC in the National Football League, faces the newly appointed Gruden, one of the most ‘old-school’ coaches around. If you don’t think the ‘youth vs age’ angle is interesting enough, McVay’s first job in the NFL was to be on Gruden’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers offensive staff.
So in recap, Gruden is facing up against his ‘mentee’ – innovative, young, McVay; the new look Rams are playing their first game with the win-now additions; both teams have high aspirations; and finally, both teams are very offense-centric (although the Rams may be less so now).
LOSS
Predicted record: 0-1.
Week 2 @ Denver Broncos.
Rivalry. This is what the Raiders need. No matter what happens against the Rams, week two is the game which will kick start the season. Last year, the Raiders and the Broncos were the two teams in their division who didn’t make the playoffs – and they traded a win each, with the home sides winning both times. Hopefully this trend will buck, with the Raiders travelling to Mile High in the infancy of the 2018 season. The Raiders should be confident against the Broncos, who are struggling on both sides of the ball of late and having lost one of their biggest defensive leaders to LA, they may be slightly less insured on the back-end of their lineup. Free agency pick up Case Keenum could be an upgrade at QB – but only if he is able to get the likes of Sanders and Thomas to perform how his duo in Minnesota did last year. You could have a strong argument that many of his best plays were prayers, answered by Thielen and famously Diggs. [Sorry, Saints fans.]
Although this game could be gritty and hard-fought, Oakland would be disappointed to lose here, and Gruden will be very determined to sink his teeth back into this rivalry with a win.
WIN
Predicted record: 1-1.
Week 3 @ Miami Dolphins
Vacation. In week 3, the Raiders set off to Florida for what should be a nice holiday. Miami aren’t the worst team in the NFL, or even their division, but the Raiders should look at this game with confidence. This serves as the middle of a three-week stretch which is essential to the Raiders’ final record. The Dolphins last year only scored 281 points (NFL 28th), which is very encouraging for Oakland, who don’t find scoring to be the issue. If Miami score anywhere around or below their average 17.6 points from last year, the Raiders should be taking a win with them into week four, in stride.
On the other side of the ball, Miami struggled even more, conceding near enough 25 points per game, (NFL 29th) – which is even worse than the visitors – and that was with Ndamukong Suh. In week 1, it won’t feel like a positive thing to be facing Suh, when he isn’t even the best DT on that team, but a fortnight later Derek Carr should be able to take some time to get used to his new offense, with Jordy Nelson and the tweaked playbook, in his first game against a team without elite pass rushers.
WIN
Predicted record: 2-1.
Week 4 vs Cleveland Browns
The Cleveland Browns. Every fan’s favourite opponent. The team that you check for when the schedule comes out. The Browns are coming to the Coliseum in week four, but this year it might be different. Hue Jackson has some shiny new toys, and as we all know, some toys can be a choking hazard. If the Raiders can make it to week four with a 2-1 record, they should be on a good track already, especially if the defense is looking better; but Cleveland’s new offense has potential. When I say potential, though, I don’t mean rising stars that could be good one day (although David Njoku looks like a beast), I’m talking about their new additions, and they’re interesting, to say the least.
The transactions they have made are very positive, and all provide the same thing. Not prospects for the future, but players who have been good in the past. Carlos Hyde is my personal highlight of their acquisitions, and everyone is talking about Jarvis Landry (except Jarvis, who is talking about Odell Beckham Jr.), who could be a great addition if their final piece falls into place – Tyrod Taylor. These three play-makers (the perfect word to describe all four of the Browns I have named) could cause chaos against the Raiders, but I don’t think they will. I may have sold you on Cleveland with the positives, but wars are won in the trenches.
I think that week four presents the perfect opportunity to talk about the best player in Oakland, (and one of the best players in the league) number 52; Khalil Mack. This game could be very fun for Mack. Tyrod Taylor is a mobile quarterback, but he isn’t famous for Carson Wentz-like contortionism, or Russel Wilson-esque fade-aways under pressure, he wants to tuck the ball and go. Mack won’t let that happen. He’s going to force him to stay away. And, not ideally for the Raiders, the most notable loss in Cleveland from last year (hard to choose one, when there were 16 other viable candidates) is Joe Thomas. His absence alone will cause Tyrod a lot more than a headache, in week 4, and the Raiders will move onto their second divisional game on a winning streak.
WIN
Predicted record: 3-1.
Week 5 @ LA Chargers
Huge. This game could be one of the most important games all season. Facing the Chargers is not a hobby that any team wants to pick up, but Oakland have to do it twice a year, and I think that week five is probably the best week we could do it.
The Chargers are the team to beat in the AFC West. If you finish above the Chargers in the final season standings, you’re almost definitely in the playoffs. Last year they went 9-7 (.563), winning five at home, and will be looking to make the playoffs again this year. The offense has some stars, Rivers is a good quarterback, and with a decent offensive line, he could be scary for the Raiders – especially with the supporting cast of Melvin Gordon and the 2017 NFL Comeback Player of the Year, Keenan Allen. This offense is scary enough, especially at home… but that isn’t the thing that makes the Chargers so tough; they have, undoubtedly, the most underrated defense in the National Football League. In 2017, the LA Chargers only gave up an average of just 17 points a game (NFL 1st), ahead of the Vikings and Jacksonville (whose defensive prowess nobody stopped talking about) – both playoff teams who have very high expectations once again this year.
People don’t talk about how good the Chargers are, especially on defense, but if the Raiders are going to win, they’ll need to score more than the average team did last season. It’s going to be a very close game and is massively important in the grand scheme of the season. If they can win this one, the record swings for both teams and will vastly increase the likelihood of playoff football for Oakland – but we’re going to need to see a lot of points if they’re going to take this one on the road, especially after they took us down both times last year.
LOSS
Predicted record: 3-2.
Week 6, in London, vs Seattle Seahawks
London game! The Raiders are coming to London for an NFL UK fixture, this October, set to be played at the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium. This game is going to be tough, no matter what stadium it’s played in – although this isn’t the worst year to face them.
The Seahawks aren’t necessarily a great team, anymore. It is entirely possible that they won’t even make the playoffs this year, now that Jimmy G has headed west. The Raiders have to play every team in the NFC West, that’s a quarter of the season. If you want to get into the playoffs, you need to win at least half of your games – especially in the AFC and NFC Western divisions – which are looking to be two of the hottest contested across the league. Apologies for the sudden maths, but there is a point to it. If Oakland want to win half of your games overall, it would be very helpful to win half of the games they play against these four teams. We’ve already established that the Rams are Super Bowl contenders, so that is a tough ask, and the 49ers haven’t lost a single game since they became significantly more handsome… (my bad, Brian Hoyer) therefore, it would be helpful to pick up the W against the Seahawks, to take some of the pressure off later in the season, where some of the even harder fixtures come around.
This game could go either way, but I’m hoping that this is another game where Khalil Mack is able to take over and show the people in London how to shut down one of the best quarterbacks in the league – if the Raiders can take this one, running into their week 7 bye, they’ll be in a great spot for the longer, more difficult, 2nd half of their season.
LOSS
Predicted record: 3-3
Week 8 vs Indianapolis Colts
Just our Luck. If you’re still reading by now, you remember why Raiders fans haven’t been fond of the Colts lately. I mentioned earlier, that MVP-nominated Derek Carr broke his leg in the final game of the 2016 season, against Indy, and this season we face them again, after a high-scoring outing on the road, where Oakland won 33-25. However, the ill feeling which resides in the aftermath of DC4’s injury, does not necessarily mean it’s a bad thing that they’re on our schedule.
The Colts had a bad season last year, going 4-12, and struggled to do pretty much anything on offense. However, there is a good reason for that; the significantly extended absence of star QB Andrew Luck. If you’ve started watching the NFL recently, you probably don’t know who that is. Luck, in the simplest terms, is the difference between 4-12 (2017) and 8-8 (2016). The Colts have T.Y. Hilton too, which makes it even more of an upgrade when Luck is able to provide some reliability. Luck’s absence, caused by a troublesome shoulder injury, wasn’t even expected to make him miss week one last year, and yet here we are – still questioning if the Colts are a walkover or a scary two-man offense who could cause us trouble. Luck will be fired up if he returns, but I don’t fancy his sore shoulder against Mack and Bruce Irvin.
WIN
Predicted record: 4-3
Week 9, Thursday Night Football, @ San Francisco 49ers
Jimmy. The 49ers are probably the hardest team in the entire NFL to predict right now. This time last year, you’d have a fan of any team wishing they could play San Francisco 16 times, but things have changed. Jimmy Garoppolo has made a historic start to his new franchise, with probably as good of an introduction mid-season, that any player has ever had. They went from a dream match up to the hottest team in the league and ended the season on a five game winning streak; finishing 6-10, when they were 0-9 to start.
This remarkable end to the regular season last year, has raised genuine playoff questions, and they are set to really shift the way that opponents enter a game on the road at Levi’s stadium. The Raiders will be no different, this fixture will be much harder than it would have been without the roster update; even if the lack of Carlos Hyde could provide some encouragement. The likes of Marquise Goodwin, Pierre Garcon and DeForest Buckner still remain on the squad, so if they all play how they did last year, and Jimmy G has had the whole summer scheming with Kyle Shanahan, this could be tougher than the Raiders would hope. To win this game, the Raiders will probably need to score a lot, on the back of a short week.
LOSS
Predicted record: 4-4.
Week 10 vs LA Chargers
Home sweet home. This year, the Raiders can’t lose twice to the Chargers. If they lose on the road, this week 10 meeting will practically be a playoff game. No matter the record of both sides, this game will indicate how the final standings of the AFC West are shaping up.
Both teams will settle for nothing less than the wild card spot, and in reality are aiming to dethrone the Alex Smith-less Chiefs. Just like the first tie against them, if Oakland want to take the win on home soil, it relies on them putting a few past one of the best defenses in the NFL. This might be easier in week 10, at the Coliseum, than it was the first time around, but will not be a game where either side can take their foot off the gas. If Gruden has worked out the offense, and if Jordy Nelson can provide numbers even close to Crabtree’s in his first year in silver and black, the Raiders should be more prepared by week 10 to swing the standings in their last game against their LA neighbours.
WIN
Predicted record: 5-4
Week 11 @ Arizona Cardinals
Hang the DJ. The 2017 Cardinals season ended in a respectable enough 8-8 last season, leaving them sat one win off of the wildcard Seahawks. This isn’t a bad record, by any means, and in most divisions 9 or 10 wins is enough to secure the playoffs – so not a bad year by any means, in a fairly tough division. But there was an absence in their team which might be overlooked if you just base your predictions on the records. A hole in their backfield; a 6’1, 224 lbs hole, left by David Johnson.
The Cardinals star running back got injured in the first game of the season, in 2017, and couldn’t play again. NFL Fantasy players across the globe got injured too, that day. The Arizona number 31 was the 2nd highest scoring fantasy player in the entire league, only behind Aaron Rodgers (who I will gladly not mention for the rest of this preview). Johnson had an absolute monster season in 2016, with 20 Touchdowns, over 1,200 rushing yards, and a ridiculous 879 receiving yards (NFL 1st among RB’s) on 80 receptions, five more than Le’Veon Bell.
To cut a long story short, David Johnson is one of the best running backs in the whole league (arguably the best), when he’s healthy. This makes the Cardinals a tough opponent no matter what else is going on – however, he can’t do it all on his own. The quarterback situation in Arizona is far from ideal, and as you will have gathered, Johnson is a receiving back. A David Johnson who is only threatening you on the ground is manageable, when he can release on a route he is very dangerous, especially on play action – because you can’t stop both. Although it is entirely possible that DJ can single-handedly make the Cardinals ten times better, I don’t think that he’ll be able to topple the Raiders when they visit.
WIN
Predicted record: 6-4
Week 12 @ Baltimore Ravens
Return of the King. In the second and final game of the road trip, the Raiders are travelling to Baltimore to reacquaint with an old friend, Michael Crabtree, who moved there in Free Agency, this offseason. Crabtree had a solid season in his final year in Oakland, and he has the talent to continue to play at a high level, especially if he is utilised as a WR1. My main issue with projecting that is Joe Flacco. The Ravens’ QB is not a daring, exciting, fade throwing, last-minute-game-winning Quarterback. Crabtree’s success this season came directly from Derek Carr, they worked with each other perfectly. This year ‘King Crab’ has to try and establish the same kind of rapport with his new signal caller.
The Ravens defense is still strong (fifth in the league last year), but the offense doesn’t inspire, and that is what will be the undoing of the Raiders – teams who come at them on offense will be the ones who are most likely to scuff their playoff chances. The Ravens are by no means a bad offense, but they don’t utilise the passing game in the ways that they need to if they are going to dominate against the Oakland secondary.
WIN
Predicted record: 7-4
Week 13 vs Kansas City Chiefs
Wake me up when December ends. If the Raiders don’t have a winning record by the time week 13 rolls around, they’re going to have a big problem. December 2018 is going to be a very difficult month for the silver and black. Starting off, probably the biggest game in the NFC West, having to host the Chiefs. This is an interesting one, because last year they split the tie 1-1, after two awesome matches, particularly the week 7 thriller which took it down to the wire (and then past the wire…). The Chiefs look different going in to 2018, they have maintained their offensive superstars, including breakout rookie Kareem Hunt, and the terrifying Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill combination outside the tackles. This offense is one of the scariest in the league, and last year was incredibly productive – averaging 26 points per game (seventh in the league last year).
However, this year, we have absolutely no idea what that offense is going to be capable of. The lack of Alex Smith could go two ways, both of which are scary to opposing defences, but one more than the other. It is possible that the induction of Patrick Mahomes will be nothing more than a transition period, he’ll find his feet by relying heavily on Kareem Hunt and cheeky trick plays from Andy Reid’s back pocket – that’s scary, but beatable. The alternative possibility is even more scary than the 2017 Chiefs.
If Mahomes lives up to his potential (the ceiling is raised even higher by the team that’s around him), his cannon of an arm could absolutely dismantle teams who haven’t got their defense on point. *cough* Oakland *cough*. Until we’ve seen Pat and Tyreek Hill in action, and we get a look at the new Kansas team, it’ll be impossible to tell what’s happening – however one thing I’d be confident to say is that their defense could suffer significantly without Marcus Peters making plays.
WIN
Predicted record: 8-4.
Week 14 vs Pittsburgh Steelers
Killer B’s. The Steelers are a dangerous team. Amongst their ranks they have both the best wide receiver in the league and one of the top three running backs, as well as a quarterback who no matter what you think of him does a great job of facilitating the other two, to an extent where it almost seems unfair. The Steelers are a team that feel like they’re designed for Madden, and it just so happens that they’re pretty damn good in real life too.
The Raiders are going to have their work cut out for them just trying to keep tabs on Antonio Brown, but the fact that they also have Le’Veon Bell out of the backfield on both run and pass plays, it seems impossible for the Oakland D to stop it. The likes of JuJu Smith-Schuster could be hugely problematic too, because of the inevitable focus that has to be dedicated to the two main play-makers.
The numbers don’t look promising for this one, the 13-3 Steelers’ had the 5th best offense in the entire NFL last season, and the Raiders were sitting down in the 20th spot for the worst defense (by average points per game scored and conceded respectively). This could be ugly. The one upside is that the Pittsburgh defense isn’t perfect by any means, Carr and the likes of Amari Cooper and Marshawn Lynch will have to step up to take this one though, even at home.
LOSS
Predicted record: 8-5
Week 15 @ Cincinnati Bengals
Strong finish. There are a lot of games that could go either way on the Raiders’ schedule, but this one should be a win. It should be. Andy Dalton has been more successful for the Bills than he has for the Bengals over the last 12 months. A.J Green had a mediocre season. The defense is average. Their second best offensive threat is their injury-prone tight end. As a whole, there isn’t much to be scared of. The Bengals’ 7-9 season last season wasn’t too bad, but if you discount the two wins against Cleveland, 5 wins in 14 isn’t as impressive.
This game is very important for the Raiders to finish strong, unless they somehow have 10 wins by this point, beating the Bengals will be pivotal to the playoff push in December. They should be confident going in, but last season Cincinnati ruined some playoff aspirations, so Oakland need to stay on their toes on the road.
WIN
Predicted record: 9-5
Week 16, Christmas Eve, vs Denver Broncos
The final home game. Denver are coming to town. It’s hard to predict how four teams are going to stack up, before the season even starts, but it’s easy to see which games are going to really impact the final standings. The Raiders end their season with back-to-back divisional games, starting with their second fixture against Denver. Oakland’s final home game, (potentially the last ever game at the Coliseum) will be loud and could be very important. However, unless the Broncos really surprise me this season, I would expect the Raiders to take both wins this season. Hopefully.
WIN
Predicted record: 10-5
Week 17 @ Kansas City Chiefs
Felina. The Raiders end the season on the road at Arrowhead stadium, with the second game within the month against the 2016 and 2017 AFC West champions. The away leg will be just as dependent on the first as to how Patrick Mahomes is settling in. Ideally, you would prefer to face Kansas within the first few games, to try and capitalise on the rookie’s inexperience – but in Oakland we don’t do anything the easy way. A road game won’t ever be easy against the Chiefs, and if their offense is clicking they will absolutely feast on the Raiders’ secondary.
It could get nasty. I think this will be a high scoring game, a definite one-to-watch for neutral fans. This could easily be another 31-30 (sorry Chiefs fans), just like last season. For the sake of prediction, I think that the series will be split – however Mahomes will single-handedly dictate the Chiefs season, (and therefore the whole division)… No pressure, then. If he has a good day, the Chiefs will be very difficult to stop; so Raiders fans everywhere, we can only hope that we’ve already locked up 10 wins before week 17.
LOSS
Predicted record: 10-6.