Toughest stretch of the Las Vegas Raiders 2020 schedule

Week 2 – Raiders vs. New Orleans Saints

The Week 1 matchup on the road in Carolina is no easy task but the Panthers are rebuilding and if the Raiders have serious playoff aspirations that is a game they need to win, especially with this stretch coming up. The Raiders will open Allegiant Stadium with a matchup against the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football and it should be a barn burner.

It’s hard to believe that it has been four years since the Raiders beat the Saints to kick off the 2016 season in a wild topsy-turvy affair. The Raiders went in to the Superdome and took down Drew Brees with the help of massive games from Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, and Michael Crabtree. Jack Del Rio’s gamble to go for two and take the lead late in the game set the tone for the rest of the season and Jon Gruden will be hoping for another tone-setting win, this time in Las Vegas.

The Saints are a Super Bowl contender and feature arguably the best WR-RB tandem in the league in Michael Thomas and Alvin Kamara, not to mention future Hall of Famer Drew Brees and a defense that was just good enough in 2019.

They fell short in the playoffs yet again but have been an absolute buzzsaw in the regular season with a combined record of 37-11 in the last three seasons. New Orleans under Drew Brees just does not lose very often in the regular reason so it will be a tall task for the Silver and Black.

This is a non-conference matchup so in the grand scheme of things it may not impact the standings as much as a conference loss but beating one of the best teams in the NFL in Allegiant Stadium’s home opener would be the best introduction for the newly dubbed Las Vegas Raiders.