NFL teams with best, worst rest advantages in 2025: Lions and Dolphins benefit, Raiders in bad situation

We are in the midst of the NFL offseason, yet before you know it, you’ll blink, the summer will have come and gone and it’ll be time for football. We got our NFL fix last week with the league rolling out the entire 2025 regular-season slate, which paints a clear picture forward for all 32 teams. Of course, we already knew who each team would be playing and where next season, but the schedule provided when they’ll actually kick off. That pillar to the schedule cannot be overlooked. 

Now that we have the full calendar, we can see who caught a break from the schedule-makers, and who were not so fortunate when it comes to rest advantages. For those unaware, rest advantage is exactly what it sounds like: One team has more time in between their next game than their upcoming opponent does. For example, if Team A is coming off its bye and is squaring off against Team B which played the week before, Team A has a +7 (day) rest advantage. Conversely, Team B has a -7 rest disadvantage. 

This is a monumental wrinkle to the overall standings because one team could come into a given week fresher than ever, while another could be running on fumes. At this time of the year, when over/under win totals are being dissected, this could prove to be a key tool in making that determination. 

Below, we’ll highlight where each NFL team stands when it comes to rest advantage/disadvantage in 2025 and point out their 2024 straight-up record in that scenario, along with their against-the-spread record. We’ll also dive a little deeper into a handful of notable teams. 

NFL teams with rest advantage in 2025

The Lions, Dolphins and Rams all have rest advantages of 10+ or more in 2025. The lone game that the Lions will be at a rest disadvantage will come in Week 4. They’ll be coming off a road matchup against the Baltimore Ravens on “Monday Night Football,” but their quick turnaround is softened a bit as they’ll face off against the Cleveland Browns at home in Week 4. In all, the Lions will have eight games in 2025 where they’ll be at a rest advantage. That should come in handy as they face the NFL’s third-toughest schedule next season based on opponents’ projected win totals. 

With the Dolphins, they’ll have three games when they’ll be at a rest advantage, which includes their Week 13 matchup at home against the New Orleans Saints. They’ll be coming off the Week 12 bye, while New Orleans will be taking on the Atlanta Falcons at home before this head-to-head. That gives Miami a massive +7 advantage for that week. As for Los Angeles, the Rams also get the Saints after their bye week, setting up a +7 scenario. The Rams will also have +3 advantages at Baltimore (Week 6) and at Atlanta (Week 17), while owning a slight +1 advantage when they visit Carolina in Week 13.

One other notable team in the advantage section is the Los Angeles Chargers. While they are a +5 for the season, three of their final five games will find them at a rest disadvantage: Week 14 vs. Philadelphia (-2), Week 15 at Kansas City (-1) and Week 18 at Denver (-3). That could prove to be a daunting stretch with their playoff hopes on the line. 

NFL teams with rest disadvantage in 2025

Poor New Orleans. The Saints are already in a QB conundrum with Derek Carr’s retirement and are looking down the barrel of starting second-round rookie Tyler Shough. If they do, the first-year signal-caller will go against three different teams that’ll be coming off their bye weeks (Week 9 at Rams, Week 13 at Dolphins, Week 15 vs. Panthers). 

While that’s less than ideal, the Saints do not have the biggest rest disadvantage. That belongs to the Las Vegas Raiders, who have a whopping -19 disadvantage in 2025.  There are a total of six games next regular season where they’ll be at a rest disadvantage, including two in the first three weeks. Later in the year, they’ll also visit the Chargers at SoFi Stadium with L.A. coming off its bye, while they’ll have played the previous week. As for their own bye, the Raiders don’t even get the built-in advantage there, as the Jacksonville Jaguars will also be on the bye in Week 8, leading up to their Week 9 head-to-head. 

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Looking at a couple of the heavy-hitter playoff teams who were each in the conference championship a year ago, the Washington Commanders (-13) and Buffalo Bills (-7) will both be at a rest disadvantage more often than they’ll have an advantage. For Washington, they’ll face two teams coming off their byes (vs. Commanders in Week 6 and vs. Seattle in Week 9). That said, they are slated to have a +3 advantage against the Philadelphia Eagles in what could prove to be a pivotal matchup in Week 18. 

Meanwhile, the Bills will be at a disadvantage five times this season. That includes a back-to-back stretch in Week 14 and Week 15 when they’ll be a -3 at home against the Cincinnati Bengals and then a -6 when they head up to Foxborough to play the New England Patriots.