Which part of the Oakland Raiders schedule do they need to capitalize on?

With the NFL announcing the schedule for the 2019 season, let’s take a look at which stretch of games the Raiders need to capitalize on, in order to have a successful 2019 season.

There’s always going to be tough patches during a teams schedule throughout a season, but the Raiders 2019 schedule is down right brutal. Once again they lost another home game this season, as it’s being played in London week 6 against the Chicago Bears.

Also to note, the Raiders have a stretch where they don’t play a home game from week 3 to week 9. Despite an intense schedule, the Raiders do have a stretch where they must capitalize on their opportunities in order to have an improved 2019 season.

After the Raiders get past week 9, they have an opportunity to make a run at stacking some wins. From week 9 to week 11, they will host three consecutive home games. Home games in Oakland serve as a tough place to play for opposing teams who have to overcome severe crowd noise from passionate fans.

Here is the stretch the Raiders need to capitalize on in 2019.

Week 9 vs Detroit Lions

Week 9 can be the start of a stretch that the Raiders can go on, by stacking multiple wins at home. If they can hover around the .500 mark heading into week 9, that will position them into a quality situation heading towards the second half of the season. The Lions did a lot in free agency to improve, but the Raiders were quite busy themselves. Mathew Stafford flashes at times, but overall he’s had a pretty streaky career. This is a game where the Raiders need to take control of playing the Lions at home and run away with it.

Week 10 vs Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers have one of the top offenses in football and typically play the Raiders pretty tough, but anything can happen when you play a division rival. The game will be played on Thursday night football inside the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum, where the crowd will be rocking. Playing on a short week is tough for all teams, but with the Chargers being the road team, they’ll be at a drastic disadvantage in terms of recovering and game planning. Last season the Raiders were exploited in their secondary when playing the Chargers, but they’ve added some new pieces this offseason to help ensure their production at cornerback and safety.

Week 11 vs Cincinnati Bengals

The Raiders got a taste of the Bengals last season, and came up short. With an improved Raiders roster, and assets from the draft, the Raiders should be better suited this time around. With defensive coordinator Paul Guenther and linebacker Vontaze Burfict coming from Cincinnati, they should be able to recognize certain things that the Bengals do within their organization. With this being their third consecutive home game, it’s a critical matchup to finish off the home stand with a win.

Week 12 at New York Jets

The first road game after having three straight at home could shake some things up. Although, the Jets still have a young quarterback with Sam Darnold, who needs the playmaker’s around him to flash. The Jets did add Le’Veon Bell in the offseason, which will definitely help Darnold’s growth, but the Jets still don’t have many playmaker’s at wide receiver. The Raiders defense is already improved from last season, and based on what they do in the draft can elevate it to an even higher level. They’ll need to game plan against the Jets running attack and look to come away with a victory in New York.

Overall the schedule is no push over, but the Raiders do have several opportunities to pick up victories along the way. Putting together double-digit wins might be a stretch, but finishing around the .500 mark is definitely in the cards for the silver and black for the 2019 season.