Levi Edwards

The story of the 2026 Las Vegas Raiders season will be an interesting one to tell.

The Silver and Black have the seventh-toughest strength of schedule in the league and will face seven teams that made the playoffs in 2025.

In football, there's always a game within a game. A story to tell each week. And with no shortage of storylines for the Raiders, here are five that stand out among the rest.

A clash with South Beach

Week 1 vs. Miami Dolphins

This will be the Las Vegas Raiders' first season opener at home since 2021, which ended with a memorable walk-off touchdown in overtime against the Baltimore Ravens. Since relocating to Southern Nevada in 2020, the team has a 4-2 record in season openers.

This year, they'll try to get off to a good start against the Miami Dolphins. Like the Raiders, the Dolphins made changes at head coach and quarterback, bringing in Jeff Hafley and Malik Willis, who were both previously with the Green Bay Packers. In Willis' 11 games played in Green Bay, he completed nearly 79% of his passes for 972 yards and six touchdowns while also adding another two touchdowns on the ground.

The arrival of "The Winter Soldier"

Week 6 vs. Buffalo Bills

The Buffalo Bills have arguably the best dual threat quarterback the Raiders will face this season in Josh Allen.

The four-time Pro Bowler is coming off another remarkable season in which he posted 25 passing touchdowns, 14 rushing touchdowns and a career-best 69.3 completion percentage. In Allen's two career games against the Raiders, he completed a staggering 77.4% of his passes for 562 yards and a 5:0 touchdown to interception ratio.

A revival of "The Greatest Show on Turf"

Week 7 vs. Los Angles Rams

The week after facing a stout Buffalo Bills team, things don't get easier for the Raiders going up against the Los Angeles Rams.

Just merely five months ago, the Rams were a game away from the Super Bowl, stumped by Klint Kubiak's Seattle Seahawks in the NFC Championship Game. Los Angeles boasted the No. 1 offense in the league with the most points scored (518) and most offensive yardage (6,709). Quarterback Matthew Stafford led the league in passing yards (4,707) and passing touchdowns (46) en route to winning his first NFL MVP award in his 17th season.

One of his top targets is a familiar face to Raider Nation. Wide receiver Davante Adams goes into his first encounter against the Raiders since being traded to the New York Jets in 2024. Adams led the league in touchdown receptions (14) in his first season with the Silver and Black in 2022, and accomplished the same feat with the Rams in 2025.

Back to The Bay

Week 9 at San Francisco 49ers

For the first time since relocating the Las Vegas, the Silver and Black will return to Northern California to play the San Francisco 49ers in a regular season contest.

No love will be lost between the former cross-Bay rivals, reigniting one of the fiercest rivalries in the league. While the geographical component of this matchup no longer remains, it's still expected to be a competitive game in a hostile environment.

Despite a huge influx of injuries in 2025, the 49ers went 12-5 and made their fifth playoff appearance under Head Coach Kyle Shanahan. There's history between Shanahan and the Raiders' new head coach, as Kubiak served as the 49ers passing game coordinator in 2023 a season in which the team made it to Super Bowl LVIII. Klint's father, Gary, was also an offensive coordinator under Kyle's father, Mike, for 11 seasons with the Denver Broncos, winning back-to-back Super Bowls together in 1997-1998.

The last time these two teams faced off was on New Year's Day in 2023, where the 49ers cane away with a narrow 3734 overtime victory in Allegiant Stadium.

The champ is here

Week 10 vs. Seattle Seahawks

Klint Kubiak will coach against the Seattle Seahawks after playing a pivotal role in their second Super Bowl title.

Kubiak helped propel their scheme to new heights as their offensive coordinator in 2025. Seattle went from being the 18th scoring offense in the league in 2024 to third, with wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba winning Offensive Player of the Year and setting a franchise single-season record with 1,793 receiving yards. Pro Bowl quarterback Sam Darnold also enjoyed an exceptional season under Kubiak, totaling 4,048 passing yards and 25 touchdowns.

With Kubiak coming to Las Vegas, he brought a few coaches with him from the Pacific Northwest: Raiders offensive coordinator Andrew Janocko and offensive line coach Rick Dennison. The defending champions will still be in great shape under Mike Macdonald with a defense that held opposing offenses to the least amount of points in the league last season.