
THIS WEEK’S NOTABLE STORYLINES:
• The Raiders play their first preseason road game under the direction of General Manager Reggie McKenzie and Dennis Allen, the league’s youngest head coach.
• The Raiders opened the preseason on Monday Night Football, falling 3-0 to the Dallas Cowboys at O.co Coliseum.
• The Silver and Black will travel more miles than any other NFL team this season (28,692).
• Arizona and Oakland will meet for a 13th time in the preseason. The contest will mark the fourth preseason game between the two teams in the last six years, including last season’s matchup in Oakland, a 24-18 Arizona win.
• Raiders QB ![]()
• The Raiders will be looking to snap a five-game preseason losing streak, following the loss to Dallas on Monday. The Silver and Black went 0-4 in the preseason last year for just the second time in franchise history.
EXTENDING THE SERIES: The Raiders and Cardinals have faced each other 12 times in the preseason, making Arizona one of the Silver and Black’s most regular annual opponents. Friday’s contest will mark the fourth time in six years that the two teams have met in the preseason, with the previous three contests taking place in Oakland. The Raiders have not played a preseason contest in Arizona since a 17-16 victory prior to the 2004 season. The Raiders made the team’s first trip to University of Phoenix Stadium during the 2010 regular season, suffering a narrow 24-23 defeat.
TRAVELING FAR AND WIDE: The Raiders’ trip to Arizona this week will mark the first road game in a schedule that has the Silver and Black traveling more miles than any other NFL team this season. Of the schedule’s eight regular-season road games, five of them will be played in the Eastern Time Zone (Miami, Atlanta, Baltimore, Cincinnati, and Caroli- na). AFC West matchups against the Denver Broncos and the Kansas City Chiefs will be played in the Mountain and Central time zones, respectively. The regular-season finale at San Diego will be the only road game played in the Pacific Time Zone this season. The Raiders, Seahawks and Chargers will all travel “around the world” at least once this season (25,000 miles).
LEINART RETURNS: Raiders QB Matt Leinart will return to face his former team for the first time since leaving Arizona in 2010. Leinart, the 10th overall pick by the Cardinals in the 2006 NFL Draft, played five seasons in Arizona. He saw action in 29 games with 17 starts, completing 340 of 595 pass attempts for 3,893 yards and 14 touchdowns. The Raiders selected FS ![]()
Notable connections
QB Matt Leinart played for the Cardinals from 2006-09, entering the NFL as Arizona’s first-round draft pick in 2006 (10th overall)...General Manager Reggie McKenzie played for the Raiders (1985-88) and the Phoenix Cardinals (1989-90)...LB ![]()
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Series highlights
• Oak. 17, at StL. 10 (Oct. 7, 1973): RB Marv Hubbard’s 1-yard touchdown dive in the fourth quarter broke a 10-10 tie and provided the difference in the first-ever meeting between the two teams. Four Oakland running backs combined for 247 yards on 43 carries and RB Charlie Smith added a touchdown on a 2-yard run.
• Oak. 41, at Ari. 20 (Nov. 24, 2002): QB Rich Gannon passed for 340 yards and three touchdowns, including a pair of scoring strikes to WR Jerry Porter, in a 41-20 romp at Arizona. RB Charlie Garner rushed for 100 yards and one touchdown on 16 carries, and WR Jerry Rice added 110 yards and one touchdown on seven receptions.