The Oakland Raiders will begin their regular season home slate of the 2014 campaign, as they host the Houston Texans on Sunday, Sept. 14 at 1:25 p.m. PT. The Raiders will play the Texans for the second consecutive year, and dating back to 2006, the two teams have met in seven of the last eight seasons. It will mark the Texans' first trip to Oakland since 2010. Last week, the Raiders traveled to New York to take on the Jets in their season opener, falling 14-19. Houston hosted the Washington Redskins in their home opener, winning, 17-6.
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](http://www.pntra.com/t/R0BKSkdFREBKTERGSEBISEtERw)Last week, the Raiders were led by rookie QB Derek Carr, who made his first NFL start against the New York Jets. Carr threw for 151 yards on 20-of-32 passing with two TDs and a 94.7 quarterback rating. WR Rod Streater was the team's leading receiver, hauling in five receptions for 46 yards and one TD, coming on a 12-yard pass from Carr in the first quarter. WR James Jones caught his first TD pass as a Raider when he brought in a 30-yard toss in the fourth quarter. The defense was paced by LB Sio Moore's 15 tackles and one sack. FS Charles Woodson added an interception that led to a Raiders score, and SS Tyvon Branch recorded one sack of his own.
Houston was led by their defense last week against Washington, piling up three sacks and recovering two fumbles, and DE J.J. Watt totaled one of each. On offense, RB Arian Foster rushed for over 100 yards and WR DeAndre Hopkins hauled in a 76-yard TD reception on his way to posting 89 receiving yards.
Next week, the Raiders will hit the road for 11 days, traveling to New England to face the Patriots in advance of their match-up in London with the Miami Dolphins the following week. The Texans will travel to the East Coast next week as well, heading to New York to play the Giants.
QUOTING D.A.
"I thought there were some positives. I thought the defense taking the ball away a couple of times, one led to a score, one kept them out of the end zone, was good. ... I thought our defense, even though we didn't play as well as I would have liked, we were able to kind of keep them out of the end zone down there in the red zone which kind of kept us in the game and gave us a chance. Obviously, we all wanted to start out on a positive note, but we've got to learn from that, we've got to move on from it and we've got to get ready for Houston." - Raiders Head Coach Dennis Allen
BROADCAST INFORMATION
TELEVISION
CBS
Play-by-play: Andrew Catalon
Color Analysts: Steve Beuerlein, Steve Tasker
RADIO
Raiders Radio Network (31 stations)
Flagship: 95.7 The Game/98.5 KFOX
(Sunday's game will be on KFOX 98.5/102.9 KBLX)
Play-by-play: Greg Papa
Color Analyst: Tom Flores
Sideline: Lincoln Kennedy
SPANISH RADIO
Flagship: KSOL 98.9 FM ("Radio Estereo Sol, 98.9 y 99.1")
Play-by-play: Fernando Arias
Color Analyst: Ambrosio Rico
TEXANS SNAPSHOT
Overview: The visiting Houston Texans are on the rebound following a 2-14 record in 2013, placing them last in the AFC South division. First-year Head Coach Bill O'Brien, the third head coach in Texans history, got off to a fast start with a 17-6 victory at home over the Washington Redskins. O'Brien, who came to Houston after spending two seasons (2012-13) as head coach at Penn State, is looking to take the Texans to the playoffs for the third time in team history and the first time since 2012.
Offense: Ten-year veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick is under center in his first season with the Texans. Fitzpatrick, who started every game for the Buffalo Bills from 2011-12, went 14-of-22 (63.6 percent) with 206 yards, one TD and a passer rating of 109.3 in the Week 1 win against Washington. RB Arian Foster leads the Texans' rushing attack in his sixth NFL season. Foster eclipsed the 100-yard mark in Week 1, rushing for 103 yards on 27 carries (3.8 avg.), adding another 17 receiving yards on two receptions (8.5 avg.). WR Andre Johnson, now in his 12th season leading Houston's receiving corps, leads the team in receiving so far this season with six receptions for 93 yards (15.5 avg.). WR DeAndre Hopkins has the only offensive touchdown for the team this year, which came on a 76-yard reception.
Defense: The Houston defense presents a formidable defensive front headlined by star DE J.J. Watt. Though the pass rush was able to garner only 32 sacks in 2013, the defense started strong against the Redskins. Watt, who had 36.5 sacks in his first three seasons, was one of three Texans to sack Robert Griffin III in Week 1; S D.J. Swearinger and LB Brooks Reed also recorded sacks. CB Johnathan Joseph leads the defense this season with 11 solo tackles.
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NOTABLE CONNECTIONS**
Pro Connections
•Raiders QB Matt Schaub played for the Texans from 2007-12 and set franchise records in every major passing category.
•Raiders DL Antonio Smith played for the Texans from 2009-13.
•Raiders offensive quality control coach Justin Griffith finished his playing career as a running back with the Houston Texans in 2010.
•Texans special teams coordinator Bob Ligashesky served as the special teams assistant for the Oakland Raiders in 2011.
•Texans P Shane Lechler handled punting duties for the Raiders for 13 seasons (2000-12), totaling 1,102 punts for 48,215 yards (47.6 avg.). The yardage total is a Raiders franchise record and his 206 games played are tied for seventh on the Raiders' all-time list.
•Raiders offensive coordinator Greg Olson (2006-07) served in the same capacity with the St. Louis Rams during Texans QB Ryan Fitzpatrick's second NFL season in 2006. Texans special teams coordinator Bob Ligashesky (2005-06) also served as the special teams coach there.
•Raiders LB Nick Roach and Texans S Danieal Manning were teammates with the Chicago Bears from 2007-10.
•Raiders DT Pat Sims, Texans QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and CB Johnathan Joseph were all teammates with the Cincinnati Bengals in 2008. Sims and Joseph played together in Cincinnati from 2008-10.
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College Connections*
•Raiders Head Coach Dennis Allen held his first coaching job (graduate assistant) at Texas A&M while Texans P Shane Lechler, a Raider from 2000-12, played for the Aggies from 1996-99.
•Raiders QB Matt McGloin was the starting quarterback for Penn State University in 2012, Texans Head Coach Bill O'Brien's first year as head coach there. Also on the coaching staff during McGloin's senior season with the Nittany Lions was Texans wide receivers coach Stan Hixon, running backs coach Charles London, director of football research Jim Bernhardt, head strength and conditioning coach Craig Fitzgerald, secondary coach John Butler, assistant strength and conditioning Sean Hayes and offensive quality control Tim Kelly.
•Raiders CB Carlos Rogers and Texans RB Ronnie Brown played together at Auburn from 2001-04, helping the team to an undefeated record in 2004 when Raiders DT Pat Sims played with the pair.
•Raiders RB Latavius Murray was coached by Texans quarterbacks coach George Godsey when he served as running backs coach at Central Florida (2012). Texans CB A.J. Bouye also played at Central Florida with Murray from 2009-12.
•Raiders LB Kaluka Maiava and Texans LB Brian Cushing were teammates at USC from 2005-08, with Raiders TE David Ausberry joining the pair from 2007-08. The group won four consecutive Pac-10 conference titles and three straight Rose Bowls (2006-08).
•Raiders DE LaMarr Woodley and Texans DE Tim Jamison played on the same defensive unit together at Michigan from 2005-06.
•Raiders WR Denarius Moore and Texans RB Arian Foster were teammates at Tennessee from 2007-08.
•Texans LB Mike Mohamed attended the University of California in Berkeley, Calif. from 2007-10.
Raiders from Texas and Texans from Northern California/Hometown Connections
•Raiders CB Tarell Brown is from Mesquite, Texas and attended North Mesquite High School. Brown later played at the University of Texas from 2003-06.
•Raiders WR Denarius Moore hails from Tatum, Texas, three hours north of Houston, where he was a standout track and field athlete competing in the long jump and hurdles.
•Raiders Head Coach Dennis Allen is a native of Hurst, Texas where he attended L.D. Bell High School and was named the Class 5A Defensive Player of the Year his senior year. Allen went on to play (1992-95) and serve as an assistant coach (1996-99) for nearby Texas A&M.
•Raiders P Marquette King and Texans CB Kareem Jackson are both from Macon, Ga. King attended Rutland High School, while Jackson went to Westside High School.
