Raiders schedule 2024: 5 games that’ll tell us who this team is

Las Vegas Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce gets his opportunity he can walk the walk and talk the talk as the Silver & Black unquestioned head coach this coming season.

The optimistic and positive vibes are aplenty for football team’s at this juncture of the offseason. Visions of how impact free agents and draft prospects can help the team make a jump this coming season — particularly for the Las Vegas Raiders.

Raider Nation got a good sampling of the Antonio Pierce Experience last season during his interim head coach tenure and now, with Pierce the unquestioned full-time head honcho, fans are going to get the full taste of the new Silver & Black era. A new offense is being installed as offensive coordinator Luke Getsy is the new play caller.

Fortunately for Pierce, defensive coordinator Patrick Graham is back to orchestrate a resurgent defense that finished ninth overall in points allowed in 2023.

There’s both newness and continuity. And Getsy noted during his media availability this past Tuesday the team is knee-deep install and figuring things out.

”Yeah, I think there’s certain things that are kind of non-negotiable in your playstyle, right, and the mindset that you want to bring, no matter what style of play you have to have,” Getsy said when asked how much of his playbook he’s still writing, going over and contemplating. “And fortunately, I’ve been around a lot of really good football coaches that have kind of exposed me to a lot of different styles of play and different ways of approaching teams and finding different ways to attack the different styles of defense that we face each week.

“And so, that’s never going to change, and I think part of our job is — I mean, you could go into Week 3 thinking you have one style of roster, and in Week 4, it can be completely different, right?”

Las Vegas’ 2024 slate will tell us plenty of the new-look Raiders and the in-season progression their making under Pierce and his coaching staff. And there’s five games in particular that’ll provide who this team exactly is this coming season.

Let’s take a look:

Week 3: Carolina Panthers (Home)

After back-to-back “road” games to open the season, the Raiders home opener comes at an opportune time. This matchup serves as either a “get right” contest where the Raiders get back to winning or a “keep rolling” game where Silver & Black stacks another W on their overall record.

The Panthers added elements to the team in free agency and the draft to help second-year quarterback Bryce Young (the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft) develop on the offensive line and wide receiver and running back so it should be a good litmus test for Graham’s Raiders defense. Carolina also loaded up on defense which will put Getsy in the spotlight as the offensive conductor for Las Vegas.

While this is the official home opener — and Raider Nation will undoubtedly be amped for the matchup — one can argue Las Vegas’ season opener at the Los Angeles Chargers as a home game, too. Hence “road” in quotations above.

Week 8: Kansas City Chiefs (Home)

This the first of the two tilts between the AFC West squads and with the Raiders dropping the Chiefs in Kansas City on Christmas last year puts another notch in this heated matchup. That win served as the wake up call that Andy Reid’s Chiefs needed to propel them to yet another Super Bowl victory.

This is the game where we see if Pierce’s violence and ill intent mantra is legit or merely talk. The Raiders punched the Chiefs in the mouth and walked away convincing winners last season and you can bet Kansas City is looking to return the favor.

This game has “slobber knocker” written all over it as a physical and high-stakes game even though it’s a middle-of-the-season clash. But it wouldn’t surprise me to see a wire-to-wire close game or a lopsided victory by either team (more so the Chiefs steam rolling the Raiders).

Week 11: Miami Dolphins (Away)

Another Week 11 road matchup down in Florida for Las Vegas. The two teams met around the same timeframe last season and it was a contest that provided concrete proof Graham turned around a moribund Raiders defense by slowing down the usually high-octane Mike McDaniel Dolphins offense.

This game, of course, marks the return of Christian Wilkins to Miami and the defensive tackle is anticipated to add the missing element of an inside dominator on Las Vegas’ defensive line — something it was missing in the 2023 contest.

If the Raiders defense is on point once more, it’s up to Getsy and his offense to muster more than 13 points (the team lost 20-13 in 2023) and put the pressure on Miami’s defense. And a victory on the East Coast can be a confidence boost as the Raiders begin to round the corner towards the tail end of the 2024 campaign.

New Orleans Saints quarterback Derek Carr is going to be determined to beat his former team, the Las Vegas Raiders, when the two squads meet in Week 17 this coming season.

Week 17: New Orleans Saints (Away)

Here it is: The Derek Carr Bowl.

The former longtime Raiders quarterback takes on the Silver & Black captaining the Saints offense and as out Matt Holder wrote: “Every Raider fan likely has this game circled on their calendars for one reason or another. Those who loved Derek Carr will be looking for their ‘gotcha’ moment while his detractors will be hoping Carr fails in dramatic fashion.”

Las Vegas moved on from DC4 and this matchup provides more tangible proof if the shift at signal caller was proper or not. A victory definitely steers toward former, but a defeat at the hands of Carr will showcase the latter. Will Graham’s defense be stifling at this point in time? Will Getsy’s offense be firing on all cylinders too?

Both great questions and of course this one: Will the Raiders’ postseason aspirations hinge on winning this game?

Week 18: Los Angeles Chargers (Home)

The regular season finale between the two AFC West squads have the making of a heavyweight slugfest.

At this point, we should have the “complete” versions of both the Silver & Black and the Bolts and it has potential to be another playoff decider between both teams to close out the year.

Jim Harbaugh has an old-school physical approach to the game of football (I often refer to his Power I Formations) as does Pierce. So we are likely to see two teams looking to inflict more violence and ill intent upon the other and see where that dam eventually breaks.

Victory can shift the paradigm more into the “Pierce was the right person for the job” realm while defeat can move it in the other direction.