DATE: Sunday, Nov. 20, 2011, 10 a.m. PT | SITE: Mall of America Field, Minneapolis
THIS WEEK: The Oakland Raiders, members of the American Football Conference Western Division, are now in their 52nd season of pro football competition. The Raiders faced American Football Conference teams for the first nine games of the 2011 regular season with three straight contests versus fellow AFC West members. This week, the Silver and Black face an intra-conference opponent for the first time in 2011, traveling to Minneapolis to take on the NFC North Minnesota Vikings.
TELEVISION: This week's game will be televised on CBS, with Kevin Harlan handling play-by-play, and former NFL playerSolomon Wilcots as color analyst. The game will also be broadcast in the Bay Area 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 KJEOin Fresno.
RADIO: The game will air live on Raiders Radio Network originating on KITS LIVE 105.3 FM, the Silver and Black's flagship for the multi-state Radio Network. Greg Papa and Raiders two-time Super Bowl winning head coach Tom Flores will man the booth for the 14th straight year. The radio pregame and postgame shows feature Raider Legends George Atkinson and David Humm.
SPANISH RADIO:Raider games in the 2011 airs in Spanish in the Bay Area on radio station KCNL 104.9 FM withFernando Arias and Ambrosio Ricohandling announcing duties.
SERIES: This game marks the 13th time the Silver and Black have played the Vikings and the Raiders lead the regular season series, 8-4, with the first game having been played on 9-9-73.
SUPER BOWL FOES: The Raiders and Vikings met once in the postseason, having squared off in Super Bowl XI in the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif. The Raiders defeated Minnesota, 32-14, before a crowd of 103,424 to win their first of three World Championships of Professional Football.
CONNECTIONS
RAIDERS:CB Lito Sheppard played with Minnesota in 2010…Sheppard also played together with Vikings QB Donovan McNabb with the Philadelphia Eagles…Sheppard was also coached in 2002 by Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier when he was the defensive backs coach with Philadelphia…Linebackers coach Greg Biekert spent two seasons playing with the Vikings…QB Jason Campbell and LB Quentin Groves played with Vikings WR Devin Aromashoudu at Auburn…TE Brandon Myers played with Vikings DT Christian Ballard and LB Chad Greenway at Iowa…TE David Ausberry played at USC with Vikings DE Everson Griffen…S Michael Huff played alongside Vikings CB Cedric Griffin and LS Cullen Loeffler at Texas…DE Jarvis Moss and WR Louis Murphy played together at Florida with Vikings WR Percy Harvin…WR Darrius Heyward-Bey, G Bruce Campbell and T Stephon Heyer played at Maryland with Vikings LB Erin Henderson…Safeties coach Kevin Ross was an assistant secondary coach for the Vikings from 2003-05…Vikings head coach Leslie Frazier was also the defensive coordinator for the Cincinnati Bengals, while QB Carson Palmer and WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh were there…Frazier and Raiders head coach Hue Jackson coached together in 2004 with the Bengals when Jackson was the wide receivers coach…S Matt Giordano was coached by Frazier in 2005-06 when Frazier was the defensive backs coach for the Indianapolis Colts.
VIKINGS:S Eric Frampton was drafted by the Raiders in 2007 and with the club through training camp… Frampton is also from San Jose and attended Oak Grove High School…DE Jared Allen is from Los Gatos and attended Live Oak High School and Los Gatos High School…WR Greg Camarillo and RB Toby Gerhart went to Stanford…K Ryan Longwell went to Cal…Offensive Coordinator Bill Musgrave was the quarterbacks coach for the Raiders in 1997… Defensive coordinator Fred Pagac coached the linebackers for the Raiders from 2001-03…Running backs coach James Saxon attended American River JC in Sacramento (1984-85) and San Jose State (1986-87) and coached at Menlo College in 1999.
LAST GAME:In a contest versus fellow American Football Conference Western Division members and original American Football League foes, the Oakland Raiders beat the Chargers in San Diego, 24-17, in a Prime Time contest on NFL Network's Thursday Night Football on November 10.
NEXT WEEK:The Raiders host the National Football Conference Northern Division Chicago Bears at O.co Coliseum on Sunday, November 27. The game will be the second for the Raiders against a National Football Conference opponent this season. The Silver and Black play all four teams from the NFC North this year, traveling to Minnesota and Green Bay and hosting Chicago and Detroit.
