Las Vegas Raiders’ remaining schedule after narrow Week 4 loss to Chiefs reveals path to a season nobody predicted
The Las Vegas Raiders have a good football team. There are things to fix, but this team can definitely win plenty more games in 2026.
The Las Vegas Raiders fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 30-27 on Sunday, and they had a real chance to tie or win it late. A special teams fumble just a few drives before the final possession took that opportunity away. But that’s not the real story coming out of Week 4.
The bigger story is that the Raiders are legit. They are 3-1 and way ahead of schedule. Their remaining schedule suggests this team could win more games than anyone projected in the offseason. When you looked at the Raiders’ schedule back in the summer, most of us expected this team to win somewhere between five and seven games.
Vegas already has three wins, which matches its total from last season. It is also one win away from its total the year before that. That progress, combined with several opponents looking worse than expected, changes the math.
The Raiders’ toughest stretch is right in front of them
There’s no doubt a hard stretch is coming. Still, I believe nine of the Raiders’ final 13 games are winnable. That doesn’t mean they’re going to win nine. It means the opportunities are there. Next up are the New England Patriots.
The Patriots were in the Super Bowl last season, but they aren’t playing as well as anyone expected. To be fair, they just beat the Buffalo Bills in a great game where quarterback Drake Maye played out of his mind. Even so, this team has flaws.
Then comes Buffalo, a team that looks beatable. Do I think the Raiders beat the Bills? No. I think Buffalo wins that game, but I do think Las Vegas competes. At that point, that’s all you can ask for.
After that, the Raiders host the Los Angeles Rams. This three-game stretch is the main reason everyone expected the Raiders to lose more games than they actually will. The Rams were probably the favorite to win the Super Bowl coming into the season. A lot of that came from the addition of Myles Garrett, Aaron Donald coming out of retirement, and the trade for Trent McDuffie.
However, Los Angeles is 2-2 and hasn’t played its best football. The Rams were down 10 points to the Philadelphia Eagles last week before rallying to beat what is a bad Eagles team. That game is very winnable, and it’s at home.
Here’s where the Raiders’ schedule opens up
Then Vegas plays the New York Jets, who are terrible. They have Geno Smith, and there’s not much else to say. The San Francisco 49ers are next. They’re undefeated and playing great football. That game is in San Francisco, so you can assume plenty of Raiders fans will make the trip. It should be fun, and it’s winnable.
The Seattle Seahawks are 3-1, but that’s also a winnable game. Then comes the first of two meetings with the Denver Broncos. We all know how AFC West games can go, but the Broncos’ offense hasn’t looked good. The Cleveland Browns are also 3-1. But we all know what that roster and quarterback situation look like. Based on how bad that roster is, they could very well be 1-3 right now.
From there, the Raiders face the 0-4 Los Angeles Chargers, followed by Denver again. The Tennessee Titans have just one win, and the Arizona Cardinals are 1-3. Las Vegas closes the season against the undefeated Chiefs, who could be resting their starters by then. You never know.
Looking at this schedule, you can realistically see this team finishing with around nine wins, maybe even more. Do I think they’ll get to double-digit wins? No, I don’t. I do think this team finishes with seven to nine wins. Either way, that would put the Raiders well ahead of where everyone initially thought they would be.
