Raiders: 5 toughest matchups of the 2022 regular season

Raiders: 5 toughest matchups of the 2022 regular season

Week 10 vs. Colts

I’m going to move all the way down to Week 1 here. At the Titans in Week 3 should be a test, but that seems to me like a game the Raiders can actually steal given the fact that Tennessee no longer has AJ Brown.

Versus the Broncos in Week 4 I’d actually argue should be a win for the Raiders considering the two teams regularly trade home wins most years. At the Chiefs in Week 5 is obviously going to be a tough one, but I’d argue you’ve got a better shot at beating Mahomes at Arrowhead as an AFC West team at this point since Patrick Mahomes has never lost a road division game.

Versus the Texans in Week 7 and at the Jaguars in Week 9 should, dare I say, be clear wins for the Raiders while at the Saints in Week 8 is a game I really like the Raiders’; chances in considering they’re better than the Saints at the quarterback position, and……..let’s just say it…..the Saints are OVERRATED AT HOME.

Week 10 versus the Colts, however, is a game I’m really keeping an eye on. We’ve seen the Raiders play well against the Colts in recent seasons……..but those times were at Indy.

The Raiders have won back-to-back trips to the Colts, but at home, they are 1-4 in their last 5.

Fair to say the Raiders play the Colts better on the road than at home these days?

Then we factor in what the Colts should be by this point- a team moving towards a division title in 2022. This is a team with a stacked run game led by Jonathan Taylor, an up-and-coming wide receiver in Michael Pittman Jr., one of the best O-lines in the game led by Quenton Nelson, and one of the best defenses in the game led by Darius Leonard.

I take Derek Carr, Davante Adams, Darren Waller, and Hunter Renfrow over Matt Ryan, Michael Pittman Jr., and I’m assuming TY Hilton, Julio Jones (or both) every day of the week and twice on Sunday at this point. But I take everything else the Colts have over the Raiders.

I don’t think this is a great matchup for the Raiders considering how well the Colts implement their strength in the run game and defensive side of the ball. And the fact that they have recent history on their side as a road team against the Raiders makes this an even tougher sell for me to believe the Raiders can actually win this game.