The Las Vegas Raiders already knew who they'd be playing in 2024 and where, but now that the NFL's regular-season schedule has officially been released, the full picture of the upcoming year is in full focus.
They'll begin the season on the road for the first two weeks before they host the Carolina Panthers in the home opener at Allegiant Stadium in Week 3. Vegas will also take part in the NFL's Black Friday game on Nov. 29 when they travel to Arrowhead Stadium to take on the Kansas City Chiefs. Meanwhile, the Raiders will see old friend Derek Carr in Week 17 when they travel down to New Orleans to face the Saints.
The Raiders are coming off an 8-9 season in 2023. This offseason, the club named Antonio Pierce the full-time head coach after a strong run down the stretch last year when he had the interim tag. Las Vegas also hired former Chargers GM Tom Telesco to run the personnel department. As for the roster, the Raiders made a splash on the defensive side of the ball by signing Christian Wilkins in free agency. They also added Gardner Minshew, but were on the outside looking in on selecting a quarterback in the 2024 NFL Draft. So, it'll likely either be Minshew or Aidan O'Connell who'll be QB1 throughout the year.
The road ahead does seem a bit daunting for Las Vegas as Sharp Football Analysis notes they have the ninth-toughest schedule in the league based on their opponent's projected win totals. That said, they are favored to go over their 6.5 win total at FanDuel Sportsbooks.
Below, we'll comb through the entire 18-game slate for the Raiders, highlight key games, the club's toughest stretch and finally go game by game to predict how this season will shake out.
Full 2024 Raiders schedule
*All times Eastern
| WEEK | OPPONENT | DATE | TIME (ET) | TV |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | at Los Angeles Chargers | Sept. 9 | 4:05 p.m. | CBS |
2 | at Baltimore Ravens | Sept. 15 | 1 p.m. | CBS |
3 | vs. Carolina Panthers | Sept. 22 | 4:05 p.m. | CBS |
4 | vs. Cleveland Browns | Sept. 29 | 4:25 p.m. | CBS |
5 | at Denver Broncos | Oct. 6 | 4:05 p.m. | Fox |
6 | vs. Pittsburgh Steelers | Oct. 13 | 4:05 p.m. | CBS |
7 | at Los Angeles Rams | Oct. 20 | 4:05 p.m. | CBS |
8 | vs. Kansas City Chiefs | Oct. 27 | 4:25 p.m. | CBS |
9 | at Cincinnati Bengals | Nov. 3 | 1 p.m. | Fox |
10 | BYE WEEK | |||
11 | at Miami Dolphins | Nov. 17 | 1 p.m. | CBS |
12 | vs. Denver Broncos | Nov. 24 | 4:05 p.m. | CBS |
13 | at Kansas City Chiefs | Nov. 29 | 3 p.m. | Prime Video |
14 | at Tampa Bay Buccaneers | Dec. 8 | 1 p.m. | CBS |
15 | vs. Atlanta Falcons | Dec. 16 | 8:30 p.m. | ESPN |
16 | vs. Jacksonville Jaguars | Dec. 22 | 4:25 p.m. | CBS |
17 | at New Orleans Saints | Dec. 29 | 1 p.m. | Fox |
18 | vs. Los Angeles Chargers | Jan. 5 | TBD | TBD |
Key schedule observations
- Late bye week (Week 10)
- First two games on the road against the Harbaugh brothers
- Reunion with Derek Carr comes in Week 17 in New Orleans
- Taking part in Prime Video's "Black Friday" game at Chiefs
- Currently no "Sunday Night Football" games scheduled; only two prime-time games
- Five games have a 10 a.m. kickoff time on the West Coast
Toughest stretch
- Week 7 at Rams
- Week 8 vs. Chiefs
- Week 9 at Bengals
The Raiders will welcome a late-season (Week 10) bye week, and they'll certainly need it considering the competition they'll see in the weeks leading up to it. The three-week stretch from Week 7 to Week 9 looks to be the toughest chunk of Las Vegas' schedule as it will square off against legit Super Bowl threats. The Raiders will begin this gauntlet at SoFi Stadium where they'll face the Rams. They'll then head home to host the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs before jumping on a plane again to travel to Cincinnati to face Joe Burrow and the Bengals.
An honorable mention for toughest stretch also comes right out of the shoot in Week 1 and Week 2 where the Raiders will face off against both Harbaugh brothers on the road. They'll be in L.A. for Jim Harbaugh's Chargers debut to begin the season and then head to Baltimore to face John Harbaugh's Ravens.
Five must-see matchups
1. vs. Saints (Week 17) -- This game will have plenty of hype around it. This will mark the first time that the Raiders will face off against Derek Carr since he was released by the organization in February of 2023. He's since latched on with New Orleans, so it'll be an interesting reunion for the franchise and its all-time leading passer. The only downside is that it comes extremely late in the year. If the Saints struggle, there's a chance Carr might not be under center for this head-to-head as they could opt to see what rookie Spencer Rattler looks like before heading into the offseason.
2. at Chiefs (Week 13) -- The Raiders have grown accustomed to playing on holidays in recent years and they'll do so again in 2024. They'll head to Kansas City for an AFC West showdown during Prime Video's "Black Friday" broadcast. On top of being a standalone holiday game, the Raiders and Chiefs matchups are always filled with palpable disdain, so it should be a fantastic grudge match.
3. at Chargers (Week 1) -- The season opener should always be circled, and there are some intriguing storylines to watch in this game as well. Of course, Tom Telesco was formerly the GM with the Chargers, so he'll now watch his newly constructed Raiders team try to take down his former club. There's also the return of Jim Harbaugh to the NFL as the head coach in Los Angeles. While this is technically a road game, this could feel like the home opener with Raiders fans routinely being able to take over SoFi Stadium.
4. vs. Panthers (Week 3) -- The home opener comes in Week 3 this year and after a rather tough road stretch in the first two weeks. The schedule-makers did do the Raiders a favor, however, giving them an easier opponent to open up Allegiant Stadium in the Carolina Panthers, so fans should expect a W in this spot.
5. vs. Falcons (Week 15) -- Las Vegas only has two prime-time games this season. The first comes on Black Friday; the only other one shows up in Week 15 when it will host Atlanta on "Monday Night Football." The Falcons did make waves this offseason by signing Kirk Cousins in free agency, so this should end up being a nice back-and-forth bout.
Game-by-game predictions
Here is a quick game-by-game prediction with short reasoning behind each one:
- Week 1 at Chargers: Loss -- Jim Harbaugh is going to have the Chargers ready to go out of the gate and the mismatch at quarterback between Justin Herbert and Gardner Minshew feels a bit too much for Las Vegas to overcome. -- (0-1)
- Week 2 at Ravens: Loss -- It's a rough opening two weeks for the Raiders as they have some tough AFC opponents, including the Ravens here. They have the defending MVP Lamar Jackson and signed running back Derrick Henry in free agency. Baltimore should be able to control things on the ground en route to a win. -- (0-2)
- Week 3 vs. Panthers: Win -- After a tough first two weeks, Pierce gets in the win column in the home opener against a Panthers team that finished with the worst record in the league in 2023. -- (1-2)
- Week 4 vs. Browns: Loss -- Cleveland's defense was arguably the best in the NFL last year and I expect that to carry over into 2024. That could spell bad news for Minshew, who'll be under siege for most of the contest. -- (1-3)
- Week 5 at Broncos: Win -- Bo Nix is most likely the starter for Denver out of the gate, which is good news for the Raiders. Maxx Crosby and the Raiders pass rush should be able to rattle the rookie first-rounder. -- (2-3)
- Week 6 vs. Steelers: Win -- This feels like a low-scoring slugfest between two great defenses and it'll be up to each offense to make as little mistakes as possible. I'll take my chances with an efficient Minshew, who will put the ball in the hands of his playmakers like Davante Adams and rookie Brock Bowers. -- (3-3)
- Week 7 at Rams: Loss -- This begins the toughest stretch for the Raiders in 2024. They'll likely have a strong fan presence at SoFi Stadium, but Matthew Stafford and Sean McVay are too much to overcome so long as the Rams roster is healthy. -- (3-4)
- Week 8 vs. Chiefs: Loss -- Las Vegas always plays the Chiefs tough, but I don't see Patrick Mahomes losing to this club this year outside of a jarring meltdown. -- (3-5)
- Week 9 at Bengals: Loss -- After an emotional division matchup with the Chiefs, the Raiders are being asked to travel to Cincinnati to face the Bengals. Woof. If Joe Burrow is healthy, it's hard to see this team coming back home to Las Vegas with a win. -- (3-6)
- Week 10 -- BYE WEEK
- Week 11 at Dolphins: Loss -- The rest from the Week 10 bye will be welcomed by the Raiders, but it won't help them out of the gate. The Dolphins are one of the fastest teams in the league with Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle, which should give the Raiders secondary fits. -- (3-7)
- Week 12 vs. Broncos: Win -- As we noted earlier, I like the Raiders chances against Nix throughout the year as I don't see the Broncos being particularly competitive in what feels like a transition year. Losing streak snapped. -- (4-7)
- Week 13 at Chiefs: Loss -- The Black Friday game is a doozy with the Chiefs and Raiders at Arrowhead. Kansas City will likely be battling for the No. 1 seed in the AFC, so there will be no letting up in this heated matchup. -- (4-8)
- Week 14 at Buccaneers: Loss -- The Buccaneers were able to keep the band together this offseason by re-signing Baker Mayfield and Mike Evans. At home, I think Tampa Bay's players show out as they remain in a division race in the NFC South. -- (4-9)
- Week 15 vs. Falcons: Win -- The only other prime-time game on the docket for the Raiders comes in Week 15 when they host Atlanta on Monday night. Antonio Pierce will get his players up for this high-profile matchup enough to pull off what could be considered an upset as a home underdog. -- (5-9)
- Week 16 vs. Jaguars: Win -- As last year taught us, it's hard to trust the Jaguars late in the season. While Jacksonville may be more talented, the Raiders are just the type of team to clip them down the stretch to steal the win. -- (6-9)
- Week 17 at Saints: Win -- Will Derek Carr still be under center by this point? Who knows. This is a very winnable game for Las Vegas even with it being on the road. It also wouldn't be surprising if the organization put an emphasis on this game to get the better of their former quarterback. -- (7-9)
- Week 18 vs. Chargers: Loss -- Even if the Chargers are out of playoff contention at this point, I can't envision Harbaugh taking his foot off the gas at any point, so the same logic applies with Herbert simply being too great of a mismatch for the Raiders. -- (7-10)
