The Raiders and Lions feature two of the most tenured kickers in the National Football League. Sebastian Janikowski (11) enters his 13th season in Oakland, while the Lions' Jason Hanson (4) enters his 21st season in Detroit. Photo by Tony Gonzales.
THIS WEEK'S NOTABLE STORYLINES:
- The Raiders are looking to bounce back from a 31-27 road loss to the Arizona Cardinals in a Week 2 preseason game last Friday.
- Saturday's game is the third preseason contest of 2012 for the Raiders, meaning that projected starters will see their most significant playing time of the preseason.
- The Raiders are looking to avenge a late-season loss to Detroit in December. The Silver and Black breaks training camp on Thursday.
- The game against the Lions will be the final contest before the first NFL mandatory cut-down of the season. All NFL active rosters must be trimmed to a maximum of 75 players by 1 p.m. (PDT)on Monday, Aug. 27.
- The contest against Detroit will feature opposing quarterbacks that were selected first overall in their respective NFL Drafts. The Raiders' Carson Palmer was drafted first overall by the Cincinnati Bengals in 2003 and the Lions' Matthew Stafford was drafted No. 1 in 2009.
- The Raiders and Lions will meet for just the sixth time in the preseason, with the Silver and Black holding a 4-1 advantage in the preseason series.
LAST CHANCE TO IMPRESS: Players on the Raiders roster will be looking to impress the coaching staff even more than usual on Saturday, as the game marks the final contest before the fi rst NFL mandatory cut-down date on Monday. All NFL rosters must be trimmed to a maximum of 75 players on the active list by 1 p.m. (PDT).
FIRST OVERALL: Saturday's game between the Raiders and Lions will feature two quarterbacks that were taken first overall in their respective NFL Drafts, the Raiders' Carson Palmer and the Lions' Matthew Stafford. In the nine NFL Draft s that have taken place since Palmer was taken with the first overall pick in 2003 by the Cincinnati Bengals, quarterbacks have been selected with the first overall pick seven times. Further evidence of the importance of the position is that a quarterback has been selected No. 1 in 12 of the past 15 drafts since the Indianapolis Colts drafted Peyton Manning in 1998. Since the common draft was established in 1967, the Lions have had two No. 1 overall selections (1980-Billy Sims, 2009-Matthew Stafford) and the Raiders have had one (2007-JaMarcus Russell).
SHORT MEMORY: The Raiders and the Lions met last December at O.co Coliseum in a compelling contest that saw the Silver and Black surrender a late lead and fall 28-27. With the Raiders up by 13 points late in the fourth quarter, QB Matthew Stafford was able to engineer two touchdown drives to pull out the victory for the Lions.
TENURED KICKERS: The Raiders and Lions feature two of the most tenured kickers in the National Football League. Sebastian Janikowski enters his 13th season in Oakland, while the Lions' Jason Hanson enters his 21st season in Detroit. Hanson ranks fi rst among active scorers in the NFL with 2,016 points, while Janikowski checks in at seventh on the active scoring list with 1,271 points.
200-PLUS: Lions K Jason Hanson is one of just 14 NFL players to have played more than 200 games with the same team since 1992, leading that group with 311 games played in Detroit. Raiders K Sebastian Janikowski and P Shane Lechler look to join that exclusive list this season. Lechler (190) needs just 10 games to join the list and Janikowski (188) needs just 12 regular season appearances.
IMPORTANT DATES: With the Raiders breaking training camp this week and returning to Alameda to complete the preseason and prepare for the regular season, several important NFL dates are on the horizon:
- Aug, 25: Roster cut-down to a maximum of 75 players on active list by 1 p.m. (PDT)
- Aug, 31 - Roster cut-down to a maximum of 53 players on active/inactive list by 6 p.m. (PDT). Clubs may dress a minimum of 43 players and maximum of 46 players for each regular-season and postseason game.
- Aug. 31 - Simultaneously with the cut-down to 53, clubs that have players in the categories of active/physically unable to perform or the active/non-football injury or illness must take one of the following options: place player on reserve/physically unable to perform or reserve/non-football injury or illness, whichever is applicable; ask waivers; terminate; trade; or continue to count him on active list.
- Sept. 1 - After 9 a.m. (PDT), clubs may establish a practice squad of eight players by signing free agents who do not have an accrued season of free agency credit or who were on the 46-player active list for less than nine regular-season games during their only accrued season(s). A player cannot participate on the practice squad for more than three seasons.
