Raiders schedule 2025: Early thoughts

Some interesting aspects of Las Vegas’ regular-season slate

The Las Vegas Raiders’ 2025 regular-season schedule was released Wednesday night. We are some initial thoughts on it:

Interesting first game:

The Raiders open the season at the New New England Patriots. Yes, it’s a road trip and a long one. But the team will be fresh for the early-season trip and weather shouldn’t be a problem. The Patriots were one of the worst teams in the league last season and have made a lot of changes. So, it may take them a while to put it together. This is a winnable game for the Raiders as they face former head coach Josh McDaniels in his first game back as New England’s offensive coordinator. McDaniels hasn’t coached a game since the Raiders fired him a day after losing at Detroit in October, 2023.

Good weather games:

The only game that looks like it could potentially be played in bad weather is the Week 15 game at the Super Bowl champion Eagles. Just five of the Raiders 17 games will be played outside and seven of the final eight games are played indoors. And, yes, Geno Smith plays well indoors.

No holiday games:

In 2021, the Raiders played on Thanksgiving Day. In 2022, they played on Christmas Eve night and on New Year’s Day that season. In 2023, they played on Christmas Day. In 2024, they played on Black Friday. The league gave them a break this year.

Prime timers:

The Raiders play three prime-time games, two on Monday night and one on Thursday night. It’s below the league average, but still it’s a solid amount of standalone games. By the way, get some rest on September 15. The Monday night game against the Chargers starts at 7 p.m. PT.

Dallas advantage mitigated:
The Cowboys have a bye week before playing the Raiders in Week 11. Yet, the Raiders play at Denver on Thursday night in Week 10 and then play Dallas on Monday not so they have a 11-day break, thus basically they too will be coming off a bye.

Rest issue?

The Raiders are tied for the league high with three games against teams coming off of their bye weeks. According to this metric, they have one of the worst rest differences in the NFL since 2002.

Early starts:

The Raiders play five games that start at 10 a.m. PT with four coming in the first seven weeks. So, they must adjust their internal clocks quickly.

Week 18 against Chiefs:

The Raiders, who play their final two games at home, host Kansas City in Week 18. If the Chiefs don’t have anything to play for, it could help the Raiders if they are still in the playoff hunt.

Wilson-Carroll reunion may lose luster:

A fun storyline was going to be when Raiders coach Pete Carroll and quarterback Geno Smith play Russell Wilson. The three were in Seattle together, of course. But the NFL schedule makers wasn’t feeling overly sentimental. The game will be played in Week 17. What of the odds of Wilson holding off rookie Jaxson Dart that late into the season?

Air miles traveled:

The Raiders are often among the league leaders when it comes air miles traveled. According to the above tweet by ESPN that is not the case this season. They are set to travel 18,055 air miles, which is among the league average and it is the fewest among AFC West teams. That could be an advantage as the season wears on.

Fun preseason matchup:
Yes, it’s just the preseason, but a lot of eyes will be on the Raiders when they open the preseason slate against the Seahawks. Carroll spent 14 seasons there and it will be a nice way to get things going this season, whether the game counts or not.

Allegiant Stadium takeovers:

We have seen fans of opposing teams take over the stands in Las Vegas in the four seasons fans have been allowed in the stands. Among the games that could happen this year include Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas and Kansas City, The Dallas game could be wild since it’s the Cowboys’ first trip to Las Vegas in the regular season.