2010 Oakland Raiders Schedule...did The Raiders Get a Break?

You better believe it.

Oakland's schedule, finally released after being pushed back twice, was announced via NFL.com and it's a good deal.

Oakland, no surprises here, has no Monday night games or Sunday evening affairs. They are either at the 1 p.m. or the 4:15 p.m. slots, check local listings. Secondly, looking at how the games are spaced out, the team has several good breaks.

First off, Tennesee...right off the bat, a team that had a horrible losing streak to start the season, then tried to pull off the ultimate turn around...we get the Titans early.

Second, third and fourth games gives us the Rams in Oakland, the Cards in Arizona and the Texans in Oakland....possible two of three, depending on if the Texans are up to speed, or still shaking off the training camp jitters.

Fifth game, our first real test, with the Chargers. In Oakland, home of last year's heartbreaker. I hope Tom Cable locks the team into a room and makes them watch the last quarter, over and over to learn from the mistakes.

Sixth, seventh and eighth games, has us across the bay for the Niners, to Denver for the Broncos and then hosting the Seahawks....last season, this was the club trying to figure out which way is up.

Game nine, before the break, gives us the Chiefs....in Oakland.

Take a deep breath....on to the second half.

Right out of the gate, the Steelers, on the road. Hey, surprised them last year, how about 2-0?

The Dolphins are guests in week 12, then back to back road games, San Diego and Jacksonville...possibly two out of three....or, we'll see how the Chargers are playing by this stage. Jacksonville may be trying for a late season run or trying to test out rookies against us.

The last three games, against Denver in Oakland, Indy in Oakland, and then Kansas City on the Road, finishes out the 2010 season.

Given the record we've had....we could win two out of three at the end of the year.

The upshot, looking at travelling, the schedule does have some good points. The Raiders could look at winning back to back games, in several different places, plus as usual, the Raiders are in position to derail a Bronco playoff berth in week 15.

Sound off on this, I think it stands a good chance of the team making the playoffs.