News

THIS WEEK: The Oakland Raiders, members of the American Football Conference Western Division, face the AFC South Houston Texans after facing each member of the AFC West in the first three weeks of the 2009 regular season. The Raiders played the San Diego Chargers in Week 1, the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 2 and the Denver Broncos in Week 3. Last year, the Raiders faced every AFC West opponent in the first four weeks of the regular season—Denver, Week 1, Kansas City, Week 2 and San Diego, Week 4.

TELEVISION: The game will be televised on CBS with Gus Johnson providing play-by-play and former NFL player Steve Tasker handling color analysis. The game will air locally on KPIX Channel 5. The game will also air in Sacramento on KOVR Channel 13 as well as on KHSL in Chico, KION in Monterey and KJEO in Fresno.

RADIO: The game will air on Raiders Radio originating on KSFO 560 AM, the Silver and Black’s Flagship for the multi-state Radio Network. Greg Papa and former Raiders player, assistant and head coach Tom Flores will man the booth for the 12^th straight year. The radio pregame show and postgame show will feature Raider Legends George Atkinson and David Humm along with KSFO’s Rich Walcoff.

SPANISH RADIO: All Raider home games air in Spanish on radio station La Kaliente, KZSF 1370 AM. Armando Botello and Angel Dinamita handle announcing duties. Bay Area radio personalities Victor Zaragoza and Sal Acevedo are the sideline reporters.

CONNECTIONS

RAIDERS: LB Ricky Brown was a teammate of Texans DE Tim Bulman at Boston College…SS Tyvon Branch and Texans QB Dan Orlovsky were teammates at UConn…FS Hiram Eugene, DB Jonathan Holland and Texans RB Ryan Moats were teammates at Louisiana Tech…RB Michael Bush and Texans DE Amobi Okoye were teammates at Louisville…S Michael Huff and Texans G Kasey Studdard played together at Texas…CB Stanford Routt attended the University of Houston…Head Coach Tom Cable was offensive line coach in Atlanta when Texans assistant head coach Alex Gibbs was a consultant for the team…P Shane Lechler is from Sealy, TX.

TEXANS: Raiders T Erik Pears, Texans WR David Anderson, TE Joel Dreessen and G Mike Brisiel were all teammates at Colorado State…Texans DE Connor Barwin played with Raiders CB John Bowie at the University of Cincinnati…Raiders LB Isaiah Ekejiuba and Texans QB Matt Schaub were teammates at Virginia…Assistant Head Coach Alex Gibbs held the same capacity for the Raiders (1988-89)…Texans special teams coordinator Joe Marciano coached special teams/tight ends when Raiders tight ends coach Adam Henry played for the New Orleans Saints.

SERIES: The Oakland Raiders and Houston have only met four times in Texans franchise history with the first contest in 2004. The Texans lead the series 3-1.

LAST TIME: The Oakland Raiders defeated the Houston Texans, 27-16 on Sunday, December 21, 2008 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum in 2008 NFL Regular Season Week 16 action. QB JaMarcus Russell completed 18 of 25 for 236 yards and 2 TDs, Johnnie Lee Higgins returned a punt 80 yards for a touchdown and caught a TD pass. The Raiders struck first when Russell found a wide open WR Chaz Schilens for a 20-yard scoring strike in the first quarter. K Sebastian Janikowski converted on two field goals, from 30 and 33 yards along with three successful PATs. CB Chris Johnson picked off a Houston Texans pass and returned it to the Oakland 40.

LAST WEEK: The Oakland Raiders lost to the Denver Broncos, 23-3, on Sunday September 27 at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Raiders got a 48-yard field goal from K Sebastian Janikowski in the second quarter of this contest between two AFC West foes and original American Football League teams.

NEXT WEEK: The Oakland Raiders are on the road for the second consecutive week and for the third time in four weeks when the Silver and Black travel to the East Coast to face the New York Giants on Sunday, October 11.