The Oakland Raiders have changed the tide with their return to greatness, heading into a 2017 season with a lot of promise and some Super Bowl aspirations. The NFL preseason will provide an opportunity for the roster to gel, with the return of a healthy Derek Carr and acquisition of Marshawn Lynch.
The NFL released the slated matchups for the 2017 preseason in early April, bringing some hype to the Raiders 2017 season. While the offseason and free agency period has died down, outside of some final agreements, it gives time for the newly assembled rosters to participate in some workouts and get back into the NFL grind.
Every NFL team now quietly anticipates the beginning of training camp, which will officially mark the beginning of the 2017 season. Head coach Jack Del Rio is excited for his third season with the Raiders, headlining a business-like mentality that has exuded onto his roster of veterans.
Now that we have entered the month of May, the NFL has taken another step towards the 2017 preseason and has released the times regarding each team’s matchup.
Oakland opens up the preseason on the road, with a second consecutive opening matchup against the Arizona Cardinals. This contest is slated for Aug. 12, starting at 7:00 P.M. PST, the last of three matchups that day. The contest at the University of Phoenix Stadium will be the third straight time the Raiders have faced the Cardinals in the preseason.
After that, the Raiders return to the Oakland Coliseum for their first contest there since the announcement of the relocation. They will face off against the Los Angeles Rams, the first meeting since the Rams moved to California. That home contest will start off at 7:00 P.M. PST, with a lively crowd expected for the Oakland fan base.
The Raiders then go back on the road for their third contest, traveling to AT&T Stadium to face the Dallas Cowboys. The Aug. 26 matchup at 5:00 P.M. PST will likely be one of the biggest draws during the preseason, between two of the heavily favored teams going into the 2017 season. That contest is apart of nine games that day.
The final matchup of the preseason has the Raiders returning back to the Oakland Coliseum, with a Week 4 matchup against the Seattle Seahawks. The game is slated for Aug. 31, with every NFL team participating on the same day during the final week of preseason.
The 7:00 P.M. PST matchup will have a side story in the making, with Lynch potentially facing off against his former team. The Raiders now have roughly two months before their opening contest, with a roster that is hungry to demonstrate how elite they can be.
