Oakland Raiders Schedule Has Brutal East Coast Swing
By Justin Smith
The Oakland Raiders were not done any favors in their 2016 schedule, with the most 1:00 pm road games and two back to back stints on the East Coast.
NOTE: For the purposes of this article, road games against the Chiefs and the Rams were factored in to the numbers for their division rivals – however the Chiefs and Rams are not included themselves as West Coast teams, as the majority of their home games are played at 1 pm EST.
With the release of the NFL schedule last week a couple of things immediately stood out for the Oakland Raiders and Raider Nation. The Raiders will be traveling to Mexico in Week 11 to face the Houston Texans and have three high-profile games in Prime Time, their most since 2006.
Growing the international brand and playing under the lights on National TV is a sure sign that the team and their accompanying cache are on the rise. This is clearly a team the NFL wants to showcase.
Something that may not have been immediately obvious is the absurdity of the Raiders road schedule. While it’s easy to see it’s very front-loaded before the week 10 bye, what is a little more subtle is the murderous lineup of 1 pm road games.
Let’s just say the four NFL schedule makers, who have a very difficult job, won’t be accused of being Raider fans anytime soon.
The Raiders play more than any other West Coast team and are the only Western team with two separate back-to-back 1 pm road game swings. Throw in a “home” game in Mexico and the Raiders will leave roughly 25,000 miles in Silver & Black jetstream across North American skies, which is on the top end for team travel in any given NFL season.
The Raiders seem to be ready both in talent and in attitude to take the next step toward becoming a perennial contender in an aging and somewhat disjointed AFC West – the timing of their franchise resurgence couldn’t be better.
More from Las Vegas Raiders News
- Raiders news: Free agent TE Foster Moreau diagnosed with cancer
- Las Vegas Raiders: 2023 NFL Draft will make-or-break David Ziegler Era
- Raiders news: Jimmy Garoppolo offered a different kind of deal
- Raiders 2023 NFL Draft: Trading down for an elite DT on Day 1
- Raiders 2023 NFL Draft: Will David Ziegler trade his top-2 picks again?
However if history is any indication, facing a schedule that looks like it was made by a cackling Charger Tom while a smiling John Elway approvingly rubs his palms together might be an obstacle.
Since 2006, West Coast teams (the Raiders, Broncos, Chargers, Cardinals, Seahawks and 49ers) have played a combined total of 959 games, going 490-469 (.511). Of these games 335 of them were 1 pm road games, where the teams had a record of 136-199 (.406). That is a precipitous drop in overall win percentage when these teams travel East.
The Raiders are the worst of this group, having gone 50-110 (.312) over that same span, with a woeful 14-42 (.250) record in 1 pm road games during that time frame. Many would simply say that the Raiders were terrible during that period, so of course their record in road games would be as well. This is a fair point but, while they’ve struggled overall the past ten seasons, the Raiders record in 1 pm road games is particularly abysmal.
If you eliminate the particularly awful years of 2006-2009, since 2010 the Raiders are 34-62 (.354). While this is an improvement in overall win percentage, during the same time frame their record in 1 pm road games is 8-26 (.235). So as the team has improved on the whole, they have still struggled – and struggled even more so, actually – in 1 pm road games.
Last year’s team was no exception. Despite going 7-9 and showing vast improvement in many areas, the team still struggled to a 2-4 record in 1 pm road starts, a factor that essentially eliminated the Raiders from playoff contention with an ugly stretch against Chicago, Minnesota, and Kansas City.
The NFL has done an excellent job in building parity over the years, and the turnover in divisional winners and playoff participants each year is solid evidence of that fact. The one area where they woefully lack is in leveling the playing field for West Coast teams who travel for 1 pm road games. How to do that is another discussion, but the numbers show it is a problem.
Live Feed
Phin Phanatic
It seems odd that in a year where the Raiders are seeing resurgence in both on-field in talent and overall popularity the NFL schedule makers would see to it to give the Raiders the most difficult possible road schedule to navigate, but here it is:
Opening the season on the road in New Orleans for a 1 pm start. The only other West Coast team to open with a 1 pm game on the road is San Diego – and that game is in Kansas City, not on the East Coast.
Five of the Raiders first eight games are 1 pm road starts.
The Raiders have four – FOUR – 1 pm road games in a six-week span.
If that weren’t enough, those four games are part of two separate back-to-back stints; the team first travels to Tennessee in Week 3 and then to Baltimore Week 4 for a 1 pm start. After two home games they travel to Jacksonville Week 7 and then to Tampa Bay Week 8.
The one bright spot is the Raiders’ opponents in these games. They’re playing the weaker teams in the NFC South and the AFC South in New Orleans, Tampa Bay, Jacksonville, and Tennessee – and Baltimore aren’t the daunting bullies they once were. They could have instead played Carolina, Atlanta, Indianapolis and Houston, all of whom they get at home – except Houston, who they play in Mexico City.
The Raiders may face many challenges in their schedule and they certainly didn’t get any favors from the schedule makers, but teams who strive for greatness don’t shy away from challenges and don’t ask for or need favors. The Raiders want to sit with the big boys – well, this is what it takes.
If the Raiders are able to navigate their treacherous early road path and continue their ascension to the ranks of the NFL upper class, they will have definitely earned it the hard way.