No team was screwed by the NFL schedule makers more than the Raiders this year.
Let’s begin with the fact that they receive just one game with a rest advantage, tied for the fewest of any team in the NFL.
But the other two teams see their game with a rest advantage net them +7 days of rest.
The Raiders' “rest edge” is just one day of more rest.
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If that wasn’t bad enough, the Raiders also play the most games with less rest than their opponent.
Fewest games with a rest advantage and most games with a rest disadvantage.
Doesn’t seem like the NFL cared too much about schedule equality when it came to the 2025 Raiders.
The Raiders have five “net” games with a rest disadvantage (six with a disadvantage, one with an advantage).
Only one other team in NFL history has played more games in a season with a net rest disadvantage, and that was the 2024 49ers.
So the Raiders rank tied for second-worst in NFL history with five “net” games at a rest disadvantage.
As a result, the #1 largest net rest disadvantage is the Raiders at -19 days.
That ranks as the #9 largest of the last 25 years (since 2000).
Even the Raiders' solitary game with one day of rest (Week 15) sees the edge delivered slightly eroded because it is a 1 p.m. ET kickoff across the country in Philadelphia.
So while they have a one-day edge, they’re a West Coast team playing on the road at 1 p.m.
Additionally, the Raiders play two straight opponents in Weeks 2 and 3 who are off mini-byes.
Week 1, the Chargers play on Friday against the Chiefs and thus have two days extra rest over the Raiders in Week 2.
Week 2, the Commanders play on Thursday against the Packers and thus have four days extra rest over the Raiders in Week 3.
That Week 3 game not only features the Commanders off a Thursday game but the Raiders off a Monday game, so it’s a long week vs. short week (+4 rest edge), and the game is on the road in Washington, with another early 1 p.m. ET kickoff.
Overall, the Raiders rank #32 in net rest, #32 in my rest and prep variables, and on top of that, they also play two short week road games (in Washington Week 3 off MNF, in Denver Week 10 on Thursday).
There is a pocket of winnable games from both a strength of opponent and rest edge perspective between Weeks 4 and 9, but it’s a tricky start and a brutal end for the Raiders, from both a strength of opponent and rest edge perspective.
