Why Raiders' Fans Are Upset About Bye Week Timing

Raiders' Bye Week

Las Vegas' Bye Week will be the first week in December, in Week 13 of the season. This is undoubtedly a late week off for the new-look Raiders.

Why Raiders Fans Are Mad

The Raiders' Bye Week comes almost as late as possible by league rules. Most do not like a Bye Week that is either too early or too late in the season. However, there are pros and cons to whenever a team's Bye Week is. An extremely late one can work to the Raiders' advantage or disadvantage.

Many Raiders fans likely remember having a late Bye Week a couple of seasons ago. Las Vegas suffered numerous injuries and losses, and the season was over before the Bye Week even happened. An early Bye Week could have provided valuable time off to recover sooner in the season.

Although having one of the latest possible Bye Weeks has its obvious downsides, given how the Raiders have set things up heading into the season, it may be the best thing for them. Considering how the rest of the schedule is set up after the Bye Week matters too.

Las Vegas has three consecutive home games after the Bye Week, the fourth game is a quick trip to Arizona, before their season finale on the road against Kansas City. This gives the Raiders a chance to go on a late-season run, as three of their last five games are AFC West matchups.

The Raiders have several difficult stretches in 2026. The late Bye Week also gives rookie quarterback Fernando Mendoza more time to learn the ropes and may be a good time to start him, if he has not already taken over as the team's starter by then.

Las Vegas has yet to set a firm time frame for Mendoza's first start, but based on the schedule, there may not be a better time than after the Bye. Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak recently explained his preference for gradually bringing Mendoza along rather than starting him early in his career.

“I think ideally you don't want him to start from day one. You'd love him to be able to learn behind somebody. That's in a perfect world. I know. Like I said before, it doesn't always work out that way," Kubiak said.

"Sometimes they have to play from day one, and it's our job as a coach to get them ready to go. I think it does help the player, though, if they can sit behind a mature adult and watch how they run the show." 

Kubiak elaborated, noting just how fortunate the Raiders are that they do not have to force Mendoza into action early like teams often are forced to do when drafting a quarterback with the No. 1 overall pick. Las Vegas' preparation set Mendoza up for success.

“I think in a perfect world that he's watching a mature adult go and run an offense and run the team, but the situation is you might have that player, you might not. You might not have that veteran just showing the way, so he might come in and have to play immediately, but you'd rather him learn before he gets in the game,” Kubiak said. 

“You don't always get to pick. Just doesn't work out the exact way you want it to, but at the end of the day, you want to make sure that you're bringing in an individual, drafting a guy that is mature enough to handle some adversity, whether it's him starting the first game or him starting first game in year two."