At first glance, the 2025 NFL schedule appeared to give the Las Vegas Raiders a break. After years of getting the short end of the stick — from playing the Kansas City Chiefs after their bye nearly every season to dealing with harsh travel stretches — it looked like the Silver and Black might finally have caught a scheduling break.
There are no long road stretches, no brutal back-to-back matchups, and some favorable draws based on the NFL’s rotating opponent formula. But a deeper dive into the numbers reveals a very different story — one that leaves the Raiders once again at a steep competitive disadvantage.
According to data from Sharp Football Analysis, Las Vegas has the worst net rest differential in the NFL for the 2025 season: -19 days compared to their opponents. That’s not only the worst in the league this year — it’s the ninth-worst rest differential in the last 25 years.
One Rest Edge — and It’s Barely That
Across the entire season, the Raiders have just one game with a rest advantage, tied for the fewest in the league. Worse yet, the “advantage” is a mere one extra day, and it’s largely neutralized by context: it comes in Week 15, when Las Vegas travels across the country to play the Philadelphia Eagles in a 1 p.m. ET kickoff — a notorious challenge for West Coast teams.
In contrast, six of their games feature opponents with more rest than the Raiders, giving Las Vegas a net of five games at a rest disadvantage. Only one other team in NFL history — the 2024 San Francisco 49ers — has ever played more such games in a single season.
Brutal Early-Season Setup
The rest disparities start early. In Week 2, the Raiders host the Chargers, who are coming off a Friday night game against Kansas City in Week 1, giving them two extra days of rest. Then in Week 3, Las Vegas visits Washington, who will have four extra days of rest after playing the Packers on Thursday in Week 2. Meanwhile, the Raiders will be coming off Monday Night Football, meaning it’s a textbook short week vs. long week scenario, again compounded by a 1 p.m. ET kickoff.
These early games set the tone for a schedule that seems relentlessly slanted.
Short Weeks and Tough Roads
The Raiders will also play two short-week road games: Week 3 at Washington, and Week 10 at Denver following a Monday night game in Week 9. Even when the schedule should work in their favor, the advantage is taken away. Case in point: between Weeks 10 and 11, the Raiders play on Thursday and then on the following Monday, seemingly earning a mini-bye. But their Week 11 opponent? The Dallas Cowboys — coming off a full bye week.
Not All Doom and Gloom For The Las Vegas Raiders — But Still a Climb
There is a brief stretch between Weeks 4 and 9 that offers the Raiders some reprieve. This portion of the schedule includes more manageable opponents and neutral rest variables, giving Las Vegas a realistic chance to build momentum.
And the team itself is in a much stronger place than it was a year ago. New head coach Pete Carroll brings championship experience, while quarterback Geno Smith and dynamic running back Ashton Jeanty headline a retooled offense.
Still, schedule quirks like these matter — a lot. Preparation time, travel fatigue, and recovery windows can be the difference in tight games. And by those metrics, no team is more handicapped in 2025 than the Raiders.
As Sharp Football Analysis put it: “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.”
Despite internal improvements and a manageable slate of opponents, Las Vegas will have to fight uphill all season — not just against their rivals, but against the NFL’s unforgiving schedule.