The Oakland Raiders know their 2011 NFL preseason schedule, and on Tuesday, April 19th, they'll know their full 2011 regular season schedule - pending we all make it out of this lockout nonsense intact. Of course, the lockout could last a day longer than it should, and that messes up everything, in theory. It could be a very hectic situation as August and September approach, it certainly will be very interesting to see how it turns out. The Raiders will be traveling the fourth farthest of all teams, and according to this page, are facing the 23rd hardest schedule in the league.
Outside of the divisional rivals in the AFC West, the Raiders draw the majority of their schedule from the AFC East and NFC North. To recap:
Home: New York Jets, New England Patriots, Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns
Away: Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Houston Texans
The list of opponents is determined by four factors:
1. Divisional games: Six games (three home, three away) against their three AFC West opponents
2. Inter-conference games: Four games (two home, two away) against a rotating division from the AFC - This year it is the AFC East
3. Intra-conference games: Four games (two home, two away) against a rotating division from the NFC - This year it is the NFC North
4.Standings-Based matchups: Two games (one home, one away) against teams with the same standing from the two remaining divisions within a team's conference - Houston and Cleveland