Las Vegas Raiders Schedule & Ticket Info: Weekly Matchup Analysis

The NFL schedule has been released and with that, it means that fans can start buying tickets for the 2020 season. Over the course of the next few weeks, we here at uSports will be dissecting the regular season schedules of each of the NFL teams, and tell you what games you are going to want to attend.

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The Raiders are one of the NFL’s most entertaining teams, although their performance in recent years has not been great, and last season was no exception as the Raiders went 7-9. Part of the Raiders’ lore has to do with their Al Davis, who up until his death in 2011, embodied the persona of his team, more than any other owner arguably. The 2020 version of Raiders has that guy who embodies the Raider persona in their head coach Jon Gruden. Gruden has brought some swagger back to the black hole and he as well as general manager Mike Mayock have started to build a team that can compete. Derek Carr might not be the quarterback of the future for the Raiders, but he is a guy for right now to get the Raiders to the playoffs. There are some nice offensive pieces around Carr with Josh Jacobs, Darren Waller, Tyrell Williams and Henry Ruggs III, who the Raiders drafted with their first pick in the 2020 draft. The defense is what might be the Raiders downfall, especially in the AFC West where there are some high power offenses. Clelin Ferrell was a questionable pick fourth overall in 2019, Damon Arnette in this year’s draft was a questionable selection. Both guys might have awesome careers, but it is concerning. Gruden for being as much of an offensive guru that he is, will have to do something with that defense to have it compete against the Chiefs, Broncos, and Chargers in the Raiders’ division.

Full Raiders Schedule:

Week 1: at Carolina Panthers

Week 2: vs. New Orleans Saints

Week 3: at New England Patriots

Week 4: vs. Buffalo Bills

Week 5: at Kansas City Chiefs

Week 6: BYE

Week 7: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 8: at Cleveland Browns

Week 9: at Los Angeles Chargers

Week 10: vs. Denver Broncos

Week 11: vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Week 12: at Atlanta Falcons

Week 13: at New York Jets

Week 14: vs. Indianapolis Colts

Week 15: vs. Los Angeles Chargers

Week 16: vs. Miami Dolphins

Week 17: at Denver Broncos

Looking at the Raiders’ schedule for the 2020 NFL season, although they will be entertaining, I don’t have a lot of faith in them. Given the offseason that all four AFC West teams had, in my opinion the Raiders had the worst one out of all of them and when you play the teams in your division six times a season, that already puts the Raiders in a hole. I would not be surprised if the Raiders lose at least four of their games against their division foes. The Raiders will have some winnable games against the Panthers, Patriots, Jets, Colts, and Dolphins. Will the Raiders win all of those games, probably not but there is potential. After the 11 games I already mentioned, the Raiders will take on the Saints, Bills, Browns, Buccaneers and Falcons and in all of those games, I don’t see the Raiders winning. Three of those five games are home games for the Raiders, so you never know with Vegas, especially if fans are allowed at games. Overall though, I think the Raiders will have a tough year this season and will once again miss out on the playoffs. If that is the case the offseason will be very entertaining. 

Despite me not having much faith in the Raiders in 2020, they are still the Raiders and they will always be an intriguing team if Gruden is the coach. They are also opening up a new stadium this year. Here are the five Raiders games that I think you should attend in 2020:

• Week 2: Saints at Raiders
• Week 5: Raiders at Chiefs
• Week 7: Buccaneers at Raiders
• Week 15: Chargers at Raiders
• Week 17: Raiders at Broncos

Do I think the Raiders can win all five of these games, no, not at all, but each of these games bring something that will be interesting to see how the Raiders handle them. Week 2 against the Saints, that is the debut of their new stadium, the first home game in Las Vegas Raiders history, and they get to play against one of the top offenses in all of football. If the Raiders want to start their tenure in Vegas on the right foot, as well as their season, a win in this game could be major. Week 5 against the Chiefs, this is the game right before the Raiders’ bye week. This can be one of those games that could be make or break for their season, despite still being early on in the year. If the Raiders win or keep things close on the road at arguably the best team in football, that can be some real good positive momentum that they can carry after their bye week. If they get demolished however, it can be the exact opposite and the rumors will start swirling about the job security for numerous people inside that organization. Week 7 against Tampa Bay, this will be the first time Gruden has gone up against Tom Brady since leaving the TV booth and coming back to coach, and if you remember, Gruden was the coach for the Raiders during the infamous Tuck Rule game. Should make this game interesting. Week 15 and Week 17 against the Chargers and Broncos have similar storylines, and I know I have repeated this in the other types of schedule analysis stories I have done but it is true. Late in the year, as teams are fighting for playoff seeding or just a spot in the playoffs, every game counts, and the Raiders can play the spoiler to two of their division foes in the final three weeks. If that doesn’t get them energized, I don’t know what will. 

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Article by Tyler Melito