5 takeaways from the Raiders' 2026 schedule - Raiders.com

Wow! Just...wow! Ok now, put away your torches and pitchforks and halt your march to the NFL’s schedule makers’ domain and hear me out for a second. The Raiders not appearing in ANY primetime games this coming season for the first time since 2010 (barring any flexing), let alone being skipped over for an international game for the seventh straight season (the longest such streak in the NFL), is nasty work. And no holiday games? Insulting. Disrespectful, even. And yet… Maybe, just maybe, it’s for the best…for now. The Raiders, after all, are a franchise hitting the reset button. A team that tied for the worst record in the NFL at 3-14 and earned the No. 1 overall draft pick. So perhaps it’s best for the Raiders to lay low, fly under the radar while they get their bearing about themselves with the natural rhythm of a Sunday-to-Sunday beat. Still… Shouldn’t national champ/Heisman Trophy winner/top pick Fernando Mendoza warrant a looksie with the entire country watching? And therein lies the conundrum, which we’ll dive deeper into in a bit. For now though, it was written in this space last year (and probably will be in the future as well) that the NFL has done a “masterful” job in making the schedule release an event all on its own. Christmas and your birthday with a dash of Seinfeld’s Festivus. Because, really, which NFL fan doesn’t have a grievance, or 10, to unload on behalf of their favorite team in the wake of the schedule being dropped? Welp, said complaints landed on the doorstep of Silver and Blackdom with a thud. Two of the first three games, and three of the first five, on the road. Four of five on the road in November, including likely-by-then cold weather climes in Denver and Cleveland. An extremely late bye, in Week 13, or Dec. 6, after having byes in Weeks 8 and 10 the previous two seasons is another aha moment (the bye was in Week 13 in 2023). The Raiders do have a stretch of three straight homes games in December, but close out with a pair of roadies, in Arizona and sure-to-be-freezing Kansas City. And while the Kevins and Karens of Raider Nation would like to speak to the schedule-making manager, I, too, have some thoughts…Whither Fernandomania 2026? Speaking of Mendoza (and not the late, great Valenzuela, author of Fernandomania 1981), the conspiracy theory making its way around the campfire went something like this - tell me when the bye week is, and I’ll tell you when Mendoza takes over for Kirk Cousins. Thing is, there is no guarantee Mendoza plays a single snap and could make like Carson Palmer in 2003 as the last QB taken No. 1 overall to sit out his entire rookie season. Remember, first-year coach Klint Kubiak said at the NFL meetings in March that “Ideally you don't want to start from Day 1. You'd love him to be able to learn behind somebody. That's in a perfect world. … “It does help the player, though, if they can sit behind a mature adult and watch how they run the show.” Did Kirko Chainz and Heismandoza just become best friends? Did you see the Raiders’ schedule release video? Yup. And what if the Raiders, under their fourth different GM/coach pairing in as many years (John Spytek and Kubiak, step right up), get off to a decent start and Cousins is humming? Why make a switch at the most important position in team sports if there is no need? The bye being so late in the schedule does not offer an easy onramp for the Raiders and Mendoza, so to speak. But what if Mendoza pulls a Derek Carr and Cousins a Matt Schaub, circa 2014 training camp? Like “Step Brothers,” we’ve seen that movie before, too.A promising debut? No matter who is under center - or in shotgun - for the Raiders on Kickoff Weekend, the Silver and Black will have a decidedly non-traditional opening opponent in the Dolphins at Allegiant Stadium. And a great opportunity to get off to a 1-0 start. You know, like last season. Scratch that. Kinda. The Dolphins are also breaking in a new GM (Jon-Eric Sullivan), a new coach (Jeff Hafley) and a new QB (Malik Willis). Game on.A return to an ancestral land (kinda) Long rumored to be the 49ers’ Week 11 opponents in Mexico City, the Raiders will instead play a regular season game in the Bay Area for the first time as the LAS VEGAS Raiders. And in Week 9. The Raiders’ only other such appearance at Levi’s Stadium came in 2018, when the Niners, led by Nick Mullens, ran away with a 34-3 victory on Thursday Night Football, and the then-OAKLAND Raiders fell to 1-7. The only Raider still on the roster from that night is left tackle Kolton Miller, who was a rookie. Offensive linemen have long memories, no?Familiarity breeds contempt…or somesuch Look, the Raiders have ancient and despised rivals in the AFC West and the Raiders are a combined 1-11 against the Broncos, Chargers and Chiefs the last two seasons. Throw in playing the NFC West as part of the schedule rotation (the Seahawks, Rams and Niners were a combined 38-13 last season) and now you see why the Raiders, even with a so-called last-place schedule, have such a tough strength of schedule. Kubiak is more than familiar with the NFC West, having been the Seahawks offensive coordinator last year, and the defending Super Bowl champs come to Las Vegas in Week 10. Familiar face Davante Adams visits with the Rams three weeks earlier. There are no real breaks, physical or emotional, in this schedule.Silver and Black, or Silver and Blechh? A bold prediction 2.0 A year ago, I thought the Raiders would ride an emotional wave to an opening win at New England. Check. I also thought they’d win the home opener a week later and boast a winning record entering their Week 8 bye to equal their number of wins from the prior season. Meh, not so much. With so many moving parts this go-round, let’s keep it simple but repeat that same, ahem, bold prediction - the Raiders will at least equal their three wins of 2025 before their 2026 bye, with “dubs” coming against the Dolphins in the opener, at New Orleans in Week 3 and at the Jets in Week 8. Three more wins might be found in Weeks 12, 16 and 17, at Cleveland, against the Titans and at Arizona, respectively, and maybe, just maybe, maybe Mendoza authors those victories. You wanted bold.Editor's note: The views and opinions expressed in the article above are those of the Raiders.com editorial staff and do not represent the official positions of the Raiders' football personnel or the organization.