Raiders To Play The Patriots In Mexico City
The Raiders will host the New England Patriots at Estadio Azteca in Mexico City during the 2017 regular season, the NFL announced Feb. 1.
The Raiders will play their second straight regular-season game in Mexico City after they defeated the Houston Texans 27-20 on Nov. 21, 2016 in the first-ever Monday Night Football game played outside of the United States. The Patriots will play their first-ever regular-season game in Mexico.
Their trip to Mexico in 2017 means the Raiders will have only seven regular-season home games for the second consecutive season.
2016 Raiders Opponents
According to the NFL, the Raiders will play the following teams during the 2017 season:
Home opponents — Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, Baltimore Ravens, Dallas Cowboys, New York Giants, New York Jets, New England Patriots.
Away opponents — Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Philadelphia Eagles, Tennessee Titans, Washington Redskins.
The NFL announced on Feb. 1 that the Raiders will host the Patriots in Mexico City during the 2017 season.
The Raiders' 2017 schedule includes five teams that advanced to the 2016 playoffs: Chiefs, Cowboys, Dolphins, Giants, Patriots
Dates and kickoff times will be announced by the league in April when the full NFL schedule is released.
Caught In A Draft
The Raiders will have the 24th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. Barring a trade, this
will be the latest the Raiders have picked in the first round since 2003, when they had the last two picks in the first round and used them to select defensive back Nnamdi Asomugha and defensive end Tyler Brayton. In the 13 drafts since, the team has picked in the top 10 eight times.
Stuck On Zero
Raiders defensive end Khalil Mack does not have a sack in Oakland's final four games of the season. He had eight solo tackles and two tackles for loss during the Raiders' 27-14 playoff loss against the Houston Texans on Jan. 7.
Mack finished the season with 11 sacks after recording a sack in eight straight games. He also contributed five forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries, three defended passes and an interception that he returned six yards for a touchdown.
Stuck On Zero, Part II
The Raiders do not have a sack in their final three games. Oakland finished the regular season with a league-low 25 sacks.
Janikowski Missing In Action
Kicker Sebastian Janikowski does not have a field-goal attempt in the Raiders' final three games. The 17-year veteran was successful on both of his extra-point attempts during Oakland's 27-14 playoff loss to the Houston Texans on Jan. 7. For the regular season, Janikowski made 29 of 35 field-goal attempts and converted 37 of 39 extra point tries. Five of his six missed field-goal attempts came from 50 yards or longer.
Turnovers Record
Despite having three turnovers during a 24-6 loss to Denver on Jan. 1, the Raiders set a franchise record this season for fewest giveaways. Oakland finished the 2016 season with only 14 turnovers, bettering the previous record of 19 giveaways set in 2002.
O-Line Delivers
The Raiders allowed an NFL-low 18 sacks during the 2016 regular season. It is the fewest sacks surrendered by the team since 1982 when sacks became an official stat.
Road Warriors
The Raiders finished the season with a 6-2 record in road games, equaling the franchise record for most road wins in a season. Oakland also had six road wins in 1974 and 1976.
Seeing Yellow
The Raiders finished the 2016 regular season leading the league in penalties and penalty yards. They had 13 penalties for 125 yards during their Week 17 loss to the Denver Broncos. Oakland finished the season with
147 accepted penalties for 1,247 yards. The club record for most penalties in a season is 163 and most penalty yards is 1,358, both set in 2011.
Dubious History
The Raiders had an NFL-record 23 penalties for 200 yards during their Week 8 overtime win against Tampa Bay on Oct. 30.
The Brooklyn Tigers (1944), Chicago Bears (1944) and San Francisco 49ers (1988) previously shared the league single-game record of 22 penalties.
Early Wake-Up Call
The Raiders won their third straight game in the Eastern time zone with a Week 8 victory against Tampa Bay.
Oakland defeated the host Jacksonville Jaguars 33-16 in Week 7 and the host Baltimore Ravens 28-27 in Week 3. After beating Tampa Bay 30-24 in overtime on Oct. 30, the Raiders are 4-17 their past 21 games in the ETZ.
Birthday Celebration
The Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum turned 50 years old when the Raiders hosted the Atlanta Falcons on Sept. 18. The venue's first event was on Sept. 18, 1966 when the Raiders lost 32-10 to the Kansas City Chiefs.
AFL Lives On
The Raiders are among eight NFL franchises that began play in 1960 as original members of the American Football League.
Along with the Raiders, the other seven AFL originals are: Buffalo Bills, Boston Patriots (New England Patriots), Denver Broncos, Dallas Texans (Kansas City Chiefs), Houston Oilers (Tennessee Titans), Los Angeles Chargers (San Diego Chargers) and New York Titans (New York Jets).
To read about the history of the AFL, please click below on the AFL logo:
Canton Hopefuls
Check out Crazy Canton Cuts, a blog promoting former AFL and NFL players who have merits to be in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
