Last but not least, for the hardest 4-game stretches for each AFC division, comes the west. Playing against the NFC West and AFC East will bring a struggle to just about any division in the league. That said, there are a lot of segments containing divisional foes as well because the AFC West is a gauntlet in its own right.
Much like the AFC North and AFC South before them, for some reason some of the hardest points in the schedule overlap weeks with each other in the west. It also happens to be early in the season for the most part.
With that in mind, some schedules are easier than others. Let’s begin with the easiest, hardest 4-game stretch in the AFC West.
NFL Power Rankings: every AFC West team’s hardest 4-game stretch
4. Raiders Weeks 4-7
The Las Vegas Raiders are only in this spot for one reason. Three out of the four games are at home, which is an advantage that other teams in the division will not have for their rough patches in the 2026 campaign.
That said, hosting the rival Kansas City Chiefs, going to the New England Patriots, hosting the Buffalo Bills and finishing at home with the Los Angeles Rams is a bit of a disaster of a segment for the silver and black. While there is no telling what Patrick Mahomes will look like early in the season, being a rivalry game will ensure that there is an added bit of motivation to win.
The rest of the teams in that 4-game gauntlet were playoff teams in 2025 that won at least one postseason matchup. While the Raiders improved this offseason, the team did hold the top pick in the draft for a reason.
In addition, there is an added bit of confusion for Las Vegas in the form of a quarterback competition. No one knows who is going to start the year off as the signal-caller. Going up against such a hard patch so early in the campaign could be disastrous.
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