The NFL released the schedule for the upcoming 2019 season and, to put it bluntly, it is not kind to the Raiders.
In 2019, the Raiders will look to improve on their 4-12 record from last season. After the NFL schedule release, it's clear that the team will not have an easy road to do so. The Raiders will start their first two games at home against division rivals before embarking on a 5 week road trip. The team will finally say goodbye to Oakland, as their last regular season game is against the Jaguars in Week 15.
Let's take a look game-by-game:
Week 1 - DENVER (MNF)
A big opening night for the new-look Raiders against their new-look division rivals. This will be the debut for new coach Vic Fangio and unless he is unseated by a draft pick in training camp, Joe Flacco will start his first game for the Broncos. All under the lights of Gruden's old stomping grounds - Monday Night Football.
Week 2 - KANSAS CITY
The Raiders will play the Kansas City Chiefs (at least) twice this season. This is a fact. Raider fans won't be looking forward to this one, but even in the midst of a lost season last year, the team didn't shame themselves in a 40-33 loss to KC in Oakland last season.
Week 3 - at Minnesota
The Vikings finished last season 8-7-1 and missed the NFC playoffs by half a game. Another big test for the Raiders secondary, as the duo of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs both tallied 100 catches and over 1000 yards last season. Oh - and their pass defense was also stellar, only surrendering an average of 196.2 yards per game in 2018.
Week 4 - at Indianapolis
The Colts won 10 regular season games last year, won the AFC South and knocked out rivals Houston Texans in the Wild Card before succumbing to Kansas City in the divisional round. Andrew Luck returned from long term injury and threw for 39 touchdowns, and rookie linebacker Darius Leonard led the team with 7 sacks and 4 forced fumbles. The Colts won 42-28 in Oakland last year.
Week 5 - CHICAGO (London)
Khalil Mack in London. What more needs to be said? Raiders will be the "home" team in the new Tottenham Hotspur stadium, but will face another big challenge against a Bears team that won the NFC North last year. Consider it a chance to increase the value of the Bears 2020 1st round pick that Oakland holds.
Week 6 - BYE
A relatively early bye week that the Raiders will take after traveling across continents.
Week 7 - at Green Bay
The Packers went 6-9-1 last season and missed the playoffs for the second straight season. Unfortunately for the Raiders - they still have Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay enters 2019 under rookie head coach Matt LaFleur.
Week 8 - at Houston
The last in a stretch of 5 games away from Oakland. Houston won 11 games in 2018 before losing to Indy in the Wild Card. The team boasted a top 5 defense in terms of points allowed, and surrendered an average of 82.7 yards per game on the ground - good for 3rd in the NFL. The Raiders will hope that their pass rushing issues have been solved by then, as giving young QB Deshaun Watson too much time is a recipe for failure.
Week 9 - DETROIT
This game will be November 3rd, and the Raiders will return to the Coliseum for the first time since Sept 15. The Lions went 6-10 last season and finished at the bottom of the NFC North. Matt Patricia will enter his second season as coach of the Lions.
Week 10 - LA CHARGERS
The Chargers have shown themselves to be a very competitive team under Anthony Lynn. In fact, the team has beat Oakland all 4 times under Lynn. They won 12 games last season, beat Baltimore in the Wild Card and ultimately lost in New England. All things considered, I'd say that was a very successful season for them. For the Raiders - it's the same questions. Can you stop Phillip Rivers from throwing all over you like he's done his entire career? Oh - and this one'll be on a short week for Thursday Night Football.
Week 11 - CINCINNATI
A battle of last-place finishers. The Bengals will have a new look under Zac Taylor, their first without Marvin Lewis in 15 seasons. By yards surrendered, this was the worst defense in the league last season and their QB is frequently used as a metric for average-ness. Vontaze Burfict "revenge game", anyone?
Week 12 - at NY Jets
East coast game. 10 AM pacific. Not a trip that the Raiders have done great with in their recent history. How will the Jets look under Adam Gase? They'll have Le'veon Bell and CJ Mosley - two players the Raiders checked in on in free agency.
Week 13 - at Kansas City
Travelling to KC hasn't been easy for Derek Carr. Maybe he'll finally thrive now that Bob Sutton no longer runs the KC defense.
Week 14 - TENNESSEE
The Titans narrowly missed the playoffs, going 9-7 last year, but did so without a very effective offense. They only averaged 19.4 points per game (for those keeping score, the Raiders averaged 18.1). The meetings between the two teams have been pretty close in the past few seasons.
Week 15 - JACKSONVILLE
Farewell, Oakland. Farewell, Coliseum. Unless the Raiders make a playoff push, this will likely be the last home game here for the team. Jacksonville has a great defense, but was hampered by instability and ineffectiveness at QB last season. They signed Nick Foles to big money to try and solve that problem (yes, the Nick Foles that once threw for 7 touchdowns against the Raiders). The Raiders beat the Broncos last season in an emotional game that many thought might be the last in Oakland.
Week 16 - at Los Angeles Chargers
Last regular season home game for the Chargers at Dignity Health Sports Park. Not exactly the same emotional impact, I gotta say.
Week 17 - at Denver
Week 1 and Week 17 meetings. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. Will either of these teams be in contention for the playoffs at this point?
Let's take a look game-by-game:
Week 1 - DENVER (MNF)
A big opening night for the new-look Raiders against their new-look division rivals. This will be the debut for new coach Vic Fangio and unless he is unseated by a draft pick in training camp, Joe Flacco will start his first game for the Broncos. All under the lights of Gruden's old stomping grounds - Monday Night Football.
Week 2 - KANSAS CITY
The Raiders will play the Kansas City Chiefs (at least) twice this season. This is a fact. Raider fans won't be looking forward to this one, but even in the midst of a lost season last year, the team didn't shame themselves in a 40-33 loss to KC in Oakland last season.
Week 3 - at Minnesota
The Vikings finished last season 8-7-1 and missed the NFC playoffs by half a game. Another big test for the Raiders secondary, as the duo of Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs both tallied 100 catches and over 1000 yards last season. Oh - and their pass defense was also stellar, only surrendering an average of 196.2 yards per game in 2018.
Week 4 - at Indianapolis
The Colts won 10 regular season games last year, won the AFC South and knocked out rivals Houston Texans in the Wild Card before succumbing to Kansas City in the divisional round. Andrew Luck returned from long term injury and threw for 39 touchdowns, and rookie linebacker Darius Leonard led the team with 7 sacks and 4 forced fumbles. The Colts won 42-28 in Oakland last year.
Week 5 - CHICAGO (London)
Week 6 - BYE
A relatively early bye week that the Raiders will take after traveling across continents.
Week 7 - at Green Bay
The Packers went 6-9-1 last season and missed the playoffs for the second straight season. Unfortunately for the Raiders - they still have Aaron Rodgers. Green Bay enters 2019 under rookie head coach Matt LaFleur.
Week 8 - at Houston
The last in a stretch of 5 games away from Oakland. Houston won 11 games in 2018 before losing to Indy in the Wild Card. The team boasted a top 5 defense in terms of points allowed, and surrendered an average of 82.7 yards per game on the ground - good for 3rd in the NFL. The Raiders will hope that their pass rushing issues have been solved by then, as giving young QB Deshaun Watson too much time is a recipe for failure.
Week 9 - DETROIT
This game will be November 3rd, and the Raiders will return to the Coliseum for the first time since Sept 15. The Lions went 6-10 last season and finished at the bottom of the NFC North. Matt Patricia will enter his second season as coach of the Lions.
Week 10 - LA CHARGERS
The Chargers have shown themselves to be a very competitive team under Anthony Lynn. In fact, the team has beat Oakland all 4 times under Lynn. They won 12 games last season, beat Baltimore in the Wild Card and ultimately lost in New England. All things considered, I'd say that was a very successful season for them. For the Raiders - it's the same questions. Can you stop Phillip Rivers from throwing all over you like he's done his entire career? Oh - and this one'll be on a short week for Thursday Night Football.
Week 11 - CINCINNATI
A battle of last-place finishers. The Bengals will have a new look under Zac Taylor, their first without Marvin Lewis in 15 seasons. By yards surrendered, this was the worst defense in the league last season and their QB is frequently used as a metric for average-ness. Vontaze Burfict "revenge game", anyone?
Week 12 - at NY Jets
East coast game. 10 AM pacific. Not a trip that the Raiders have done great with in their recent history. How will the Jets look under Adam Gase? They'll have Le'veon Bell and CJ Mosley - two players the Raiders checked in on in free agency.
 |
| Photo: Terry Schmitt / UPI |
Travelling to KC hasn't been easy for Derek Carr. Maybe he'll finally thrive now that Bob Sutton no longer runs the KC defense.
Week 14 - TENNESSEE
The Titans narrowly missed the playoffs, going 9-7 last year, but did so without a very effective offense. They only averaged 19.4 points per game (for those keeping score, the Raiders averaged 18.1). The meetings between the two teams have been pretty close in the past few seasons.
Week 15 - JACKSONVILLE
Farewell, Oakland. Farewell, Coliseum. Unless the Raiders make a playoff push, this will likely be the last home game here for the team. Jacksonville has a great defense, but was hampered by instability and ineffectiveness at QB last season. They signed Nick Foles to big money to try and solve that problem (yes, the Nick Foles that once threw for 7 touchdowns against the Raiders). The Raiders beat the Broncos last season in an emotional game that many thought might be the last in Oakland.
 |
| Photo: Robert Reiners, Getty Images |
Last regular season home game for the Chargers at Dignity Health Sports Park. Not exactly the same emotional impact, I gotta say.
Week 17 - at Denver
Week 1 and Week 17 meetings. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. Will either of these teams be in contention for the playoffs at this point?
Comments
Post a Comment