Five observations of the Raiders 2017 schedule
By Evan Groat
Miscellaneous observations of the 2017 schedule for the Oakland Raiders.
Now that we are less than 100 days until the kickoff of the 2017 NFL season, it’s time we take a closer look at the Oakland Raiders schedule. For starters, they will face a much more difficult slate of games this year, as their strength of schedule ranks them fourth in the league. The teams they will play had a 2016 combined record of 144-111-1. In addition to the traditional divisional games, the Raiders will take on teams from the AFC and NFC East as well as the AFC North and South.
Here are five observations for the Raiders 2017 schedule.
Raiders will have to be road warriors to start the season
Like they did one year ago, the Raiders will once again play three of their first four games on the road. They will start the season in Tennessee, head home to face the Jets and then hit the road again for consecutive weeks at Washington and at Denver.
This will be the third consecutive year the Raiders will play at Tennessee, with the previous two meetings having been hard fought Raiders victories. Expect another close one. The Titans are a team on the rise who added two first round picks to their roster this offseason.
After the home opener against a lowly Jets team, the Raiders will head east to play the Redskins. This is another winnable game for the Raiders, as Washington just missed the playoffs last season, and lose their two starting wide receivers via free agency. In 2016, the Raiders finally exercised the east coast demons that had plagued them for so long, so this team has now learned how to travel and win games on the road.
The Raiders will play their first division game of the year in Week 4 at Denver. This could be an early statement game if the Raiders can put together a quality performance and get a win on the road in a tough environment. Denver’s defense is still quite stingy and was once again among the NFL’s best last season. The biggest question is who will be under center for Denver, but either way, the Raiders defense can’t allow Paxton Lynch or Trevor Siemian to beat them.
It will be imperative for the Raiders to get off to a hot start early in the season, as the first six weeks will be the easiest stretch of games they will see this year.