Raiders Schedule Not Forgiving

I waited to post my thoughts about the release of the Raiders schedule. I wanted to chew on it a little. There will be and have been complaints about the way this schedule looks for the Raiders. However, I hate to point this out...It was going to be a much tougher schedule than last year's anyway.

We play the AFC North and NFC East. Last Season we played the AFC East and NFC South

It was going to be harder no matter what. Could the NFL have given us a few easier games? Not really. Could they have given us fewer cold weather games? Yes.

Does a few cold weather games scare the team? Don't cold weather games favor our high powered running attack? Or do they favor any team with a running game against our mush rush defense?

The start is going to be pivotal. The end of the season will play itself out just fine, if the team has something to play for.

vs. San Diego - Very important to start well, play well in primetime, and get the biggest monkey off our backs. Modest Underdogs.
@ Kansas City - Always tough to play at Arrowhead, vital we win games we are actually favored to win.
vs. Denver - Again, win games we will be favored in. I don't see them putting up a huge fight this season, but they will be the first to challenge us at the top in a few years. Modest Favorites.
@ Houston - Looking at the first four, they are all within our grasp to win. After this the wins might not come as easily. I'd put the line at even.
@ N.Y. Giants - This is still a tough team, and playing on the road makes us heavy underdogs.
vs. Philly - Hard to see us not being home underdogs in this one, but it wont be a heavy, and depends a lot upon how we play in the first five and how Philly plays in the first five.
vs N.Y. Jets - J-E-T-S Jetblue East To Sh... We will be favored and this is a game we might have to have.
@ San Diego - They may want revenge, we need to make sure they don't get it.
BYE - Week 9 Bye, the most forgiving thing the NFL gave to us in scheduling.
vs. Kansas City - The NFL must think we need two weeks to prepare for the powerhouse Kansas City Chiefs coming into Oakland.
vs. Cincinnati - Wow, back to back games after the bye that we really need to win and probably will be favored to win.
@Dallas - Jerry Jones shows Al Davis what a real NFL stadium is and we show the Cowboys what a real NFL team is. Thanksgiving, should be fun, normally I tune out the game. Oh, but it is only 4 days after we play Cincy, that bye week should be spent getting a jump on this game.
@ Pittsburgh - Wow, just wow, but we have 10 days to prepare, so it isn't that bad.
vs. Washington - I don't see how this is that bad, home game versus a team that is repeated Al Davis' mistakes.
@ Denver - Denver in December. Lincoln Kennedy returns to throw ice snowballs in the stands.
@ Cleveland - Another cold game. Back to back weeks is tough, but Cleveland isn't.
vs Baltimore - At this point, we hope that we aren't playing for anything, because we already clinched a playoff birth, but no matter what, this game means something to the players. We want desperately to wipe the blowout they handed us last season off the board.

It is a tough schedule: Fearless Early Prediction: 11-5. More realistic 9-7, Less optimistic - 6-10

Oakland Raiders Swing for the Fences in 2016 NFL Draft

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The Raiders aren't who we thought they were....they're better

The Oakland Raiders are tired of being the team that will be good in a year or two. The team expects to win now and it is winning now. We thought the Raiders needed more talent. We thought that being in the playoff hunt was a year away for this team, but we were wrong. This isn't the team we thought they were, they're better. On Sunday, they moved to 3-3 on Sunday with a 37-29 win over the San Diego Chargers that wasn't close until the final minute. It was also the Raiders second road win of the season. The last time the Raiders had two road wins by their sixth game was 2011. Before that, a five-year streak from 1998-2002. The Raiders went 8-8 in 1998, 1999 and 2011 and narrowly missed the playoffs each year. They made the playoffs in 2000, 2001 and 2002. They didn't have a losing record in any of those seasons because teams that can win on the road are usually pretty good. As the season matures, there is more and more evidence that some of the "best-case scenario

2012 NFL Strength of Schedule

Disclaimer Some strength of schedule models calculate strength of schedule based on the opponents the team has faced to date. My model calculates strength of schedule based on all the opponents on a team's schedule. The reason for this is because it reduces weekly fluctuations. For example, when a team plays their Week 17 game, in the traditional model their strength of schedule would change by 31 games...their Week 17 opponent's 16 games plus the additional game played by each of their prior 15 opponents. In my model, when a team plays their Week 17 game their strength of schedule will only change by 15 games...one additional game for each of the opponents on their schedule.

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