The 2024 NFL regular season has been consigned to the dustbin of history. While fans still have the Playoffs and Super Bowl LIX to look forward to over the coming weeks, those involved with the Raiders will inevitably look further into 2025.
But how far?
The NFL Draft looms in April, and it should be interesting to see what the Raiders do with their picks. Of course, there’s also the head coach situation to address, as well as player contracts, trades, and free agency.
Yet, some will also look to the beginning of the 2025 season proper. We’ve already seen a flurry of articles come out since January 6 (when the NFL released its “opponents determined” list for next season), ranking teams’ schedules based on difficulty. It is an interesting exercise, yet some might argue it is futile.
We have nine months to the beginning of the 2025 season, and you’ll see significant movement in the NFL odds as teams make trades and sign free agents. Sure, there is some merit in it, as you can hazard a guess that some teams will take their 2024 form into next season and beyond, yet there is an argument that you should feel skeptical to a degree.
Raiders’ schedule ranked 16th out of 32 in difficulty.
For those interested, the Raiders schedule is smack-bang in the middle of the league in terms of difficulty. They rank 16th overall in difficulty, with their opponents’ combined wins and losses in the 2024 season almost at parity at 145-144, or 0.502. A quick rundown of those opponents: Broncos, Chiefs, and Chargers (home and away as divisional opponents); Jaguars, Titans, Browns, Cowboys, Giants & Bears (home); Texans, Commanders, Patriots, Eagles & Colts (away).
Now, we’d argue that two things stand out on that list. The first is – as most fans are aware – the AFC West opponents had successful seasons in 2024, all three making the Playoffs. A combined record of 36-15 for the Chiefs, Chargers, and Broncos is impressive, regardless of how you look at it. It puts an onus upon the Raiders’ management to bring the team to a level where they can compete in the AFC West, which might take a few seasons.
Raiders have some winnable home games
However, that 36-15 record also suggests that the Raiders will play teams perceived to be weaker (on paper, crucially) elsewhere. That brings us to our second area that stands out – the Raiders’ home games: the Jaguars (4-13), Titans (3-14), Browns (3-14), Cowboys (7-10), Bears (5-12), and Giants (3-14) combined for a 25-77 record last season.
It means six of the weakest teams in the league will be coming to the Allegiant Stadium next season. It feels like an opportunity to make home advantage count.
Of course, if you speak to fans of those teams, they will be optimistic that things will improve in the offseason. A team like the Bears, who most will feel underperformed in 2024, has at least some pieces they can move around and build upon for next season. Few teams will stand still. The flip side is that teams that looked great in 2024 might be terrible in 2025. We can point to the example of the San Francisco 49ers last season. After a stellar 2023 season, the sportsbooks and plenty of pundits again had them down as genuine contenders. Yet, a miserable season ensued.
That, perhaps, is the point. Looking at the schedule today, it should only be of passing interest. You can be sure that some of those challenging games on the schedule now will not be as difficult come next fall.
The same goes for the easy games; statistically, at least one of the six we mentioned will have a breakout season. It always happens. Unfortunately, we know at this point that the Raiders will need to raise their own game before worrying about the strengths and weaknesses of anyone else they come up against.
x: @raidersbeat