NFL media predicts the Raiders will have the same record as they did last season.
There’s no question the Raiders have a rough schedule in 2026. While they face some of the weakest teams in the league, they also have a brutal lineup of some of the league’s top teams. And their tough opponents outweigh the winnable games.
For that reason, my 2026 Raiders game-by-game predictions have them finishing with a losing record overall.
That being said, there is obvious improvement in this team. They had the perfect storm of terrible last season. From a terribly coached offensive line to bad QB play, to a cobbled together defense.
The benefit to such a team was landing the number one overall pick in the draft. The result was an all new coaching staff, with head coach Klint Kubiak coming off a Super Bowl title, a franchise QB in Fernando Mendoza as well as a proven veteran presence at the position with Kirk Cousins, and even the return of elite pass rusher Maxx Crosby.
But you wouldn’t know any of this happened if you look at the game-by-game predictions just put out over at the NFL’s media site, where Ali Bhanpuri and Tom Blair have the Raiders finishing with…basically the same record as they did last season.
Ali has them finishing 4-13 while Tom has them with their identical 2025 finish of 3-14.
What’s funny is they mention all the offseason improvements the Raiders made, but none of it shows up in their predictions.
Will Vegas’ offseason spending spree vastly improve its defense? When will Klint Kubiak notch his first win as a head coach? How short of a leash will Kirk Cousins have as QB1? And how quickly will Fernando Mendoza acclimate to NFL game speed if/when he gets his chance? Is Maxx Crosby still on the team after the trade deadline? Simply too many questions surround this squad to project a winning season, but it’s possible if all the new pieces coalesce quickly that the Raiders rally off a couple more wins than we think.
They don’t each have the Raiders winning and losing the same games. If you only the games both have them winning, they finish 2-15. If you look at the games at least one of them has the Raiders winning, they finish at 5-12. Which is still not great.
The only games both of them agree the Raiders should win are the opener against the Dolphins and their week 17 matchup with the Cardinals. It’s like they still think the Raiders are in QB hell because that’s where those teams are.
They call the game against the Saints in week three the toughest to predict. I agree with that. When I was going through the games, I went back and forth on that one the most. The Titans game was also a tough call. For what it’s worth, they are split on both games.
