The NFL's 91st season will commence on Thursday, September 11 and continue for 17 weeks. Each of the league's 32 teams play 16-game schedules with one bye week in which they do not play. The New Orleans Saints will kick off the 2010 season, as it has become traditional for the defending Super Bowl champion to play in the opening game of the following year. The campaign consists of 256 games, with the regular season concluding on January 2, 2011. The NFL follows a scheduling format - adopted in 2002 - that allows all teams to know their schedule for the following season once the current season is over. The precise dates won't be determined until the NFL releases the complete schedule in mid-April.

All teams play six games within their division (one at home and away against each of their three division opponents). Clubs also play four games against all the teams from another division in its conference and one division in the opposite conference. This is done on a rotating basis, so that clubs will end up playing every other opponent in the league within a four-year span. The remaining two games depend on where a team finishes in the standings. For example, first-place teams play the other two first-place clubs in the divisions within its conference that it is not already playing. Second-place teams play second-place finishers, etc.http://football.about.com/cs/football101/a/bl_schedproced.htm<ref>

The Oakland Raiders play in the AFC West and have traditional rivalries with the Denver Broncos, San Diego Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs. In addition to their division games, the Raiders will play the AFC South and NFC West in 2010. The Raiders finished third in their division last season, meaning their two other games will be against the third-place team in the AFC North (Pittsburgh) and the third-place club in the AFC East (Miami).

The Raiders' home schedule is as follows: Denver, Kansas City, San Diego, Houston, Indianapolis, St. Louis, Seattle and Miami.

The Raiders' road schedule is as follows: Denver, Kansas City, San Diego, Jacksonville, Tennessee, Arizona, San Francisco and Pittsburgh.

Oakland plays only four games against playoff teams from 2009 - two against division foe San Diego and one each against Arizona and defending AFC champion Indianapolis. http://www.nfl.com/news/story?id=09000d5d8157a75c&template=with-video-with-comments&confirm=true