A season after landing right in the middle of the pack in strength of schedule, the Raiders are back to having the toughest slate in the league. It seems like an all too common occurrence, actually. Though that's just how the cookie crumbles with regard to the scheduling rotation in the NFL.
If you look solely at opponent winning percentage, the Raiders are actually come in fourth, behind the other AFC West teams.
| Team | Opp W/L | Opp Win % |
| DEN | 147-107-2 | 0.578 |
| KC | 147-108-1 | 0.576 |
| SD | 145-110-1 | 0.568 |
| OAK | 144-111-1 | 0.564 |
| BUF | 143-112-1 | 0.561 |
| MIA | 140-116-0 | 0.547 |
| WAS | 138-116-2 | 0.543 |
| NYJ | 137-119-0 | 0.535 |
| NYG | 135-117-4 | 0.535 |
| NE | 135-121-0 | 0.527 |
Another area that can be factored in with regard to opponents is point differential. And the Raiders face teams with the highest point differential in the league this season, with their opponents having scored a combined 478 more points than they surrendered.
| Team | Point Diff |
| OAK | 478 |
| DEN | 472 |
| KC | 382 |
| MIA | 362 |
| NYJ | 353 |
| BUF | 342 |
| WAS | 298 |
| SD | 271 |
| DAL | 237 |
| NYG | 210 |
The next barometer is winning teams faced. Once again, the Raiders face among the most winning teams in the league with 10 of the team's 16 games against 2016 winning teams and 9 against teams with at least 9 wins. That's just below the Chiefs and Chargers. Meanwhile the Broncos face just 8 teams with at least 9 wins.
| Team | 9+ win opponents |
| KC | 10 |
| SD | 10 |
| OAK | 9 |
| BUF | 9 |
| NYJ | 9 |
| NE | 9 |
| MIA | 8 |
| ARI | 8 |
| BAL | 8 |
| ATL | 8 |
| DEN | 8 |
There is one more wrinkle to factor in here: The Raiders have one less game in Oakland. Their toughest opponent next season is to be the Patriots. Working in their favor would have been facing them at home in Oakland. But that game has been shipped to Mexico City. Meanwhile, the Broncos, with their eyelash tougher opponent winning percentage, face the Patriots in their house at Mile High.
You can view every NFL team's strength of schedule here.
Update: This article originally had incorrect information from the above link which showed the Raiders to having the league's second highest opponent win percentage and most opponents with 9+ wins. It has been corrected to reflect the accurate info.
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