NFL schedule leaks: Titans host Raiders in opener

The Oakland Raiders will play the Tennessee Titans for the third consecutive year, this time in Week 1.

For the third time in three years, the Oakland Raiders will play the Tennessee Titans, with all three coming in Nashville. In the previous two matchups, Oakland is 2-0.

It’s worth noting that Raiders cornerback David Amerson has an interception and 11 passes deflected against the Titans in the last two seasons. These two teams are on the come up for 2017, and Week 1 should be a close matchup between young, rising squads. Tennessee is wildly underrated after improving from 3-13 to 9-7 last year, only losing out on a playoff spot and the AFC South crown via tiebreaker.

Oakland its division race by a tiebreaker, having dropped both games to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Raiders did make the playoffs for the first time since 2002, but were relegated to starting third-string quarterback Connor Cook in the Wild Card game. The Raiders fell to the Houston Texans, making their postseason stint a brief one.

We already know the rest of the AFC West schedule to begin the campaign. The Chiefs will have the toughest assignment possible, playing on the road against the New England Patriots in the NFL opener. The Denver Broncos are playing host to the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night of that week.

Both quarterbacks, Marcus Mariota and Derek Carr, had season-ending broken legs a season ago. Mariota had the worse of the two injuries, as his fibula was actually fractured.  Week 1 will be a nice sample to see far they have come from their injuries.

Next: John Ross to the Raiders?

Hopefully, both thriving quarterbacks will bounce back in 2017. If these two stars remain healthy, this game could be a preview of a potential AFC playoff matchup come next January.