Raiders’ four prime-time games includes Steeler visit

The Oakland Raiders have announced their 2018 regular season schedule, including four prime-time games and a trip to London.

Oakland opens at home against the Los Angeles Rams on ESPN in the second of two games to close out the NFL’s opening weekend.

The Raiders don’t get back into primetime until they take a trip south to face the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara for the Battle of the Bay, leaving Bay Area football fans to figure out busy work schedules for a Thursday Night Football showdown.

The Raiders and 49ers stopped playing against each other during the preseason for safety concerns, and now fans will have to settle with a TNF game to kickoff at 5:20 p.m. The other two primetime games for the silver and black include a matchup with the 6-time Super Bowl Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday Night Football in week 14, and a second Monday Night Football matchup, this one a Christmas Eve battle with the division rival Denver Broncos in week 16.

Jon Gruden and the Raiders will log some frequent flyer miles during Week 6 when they travel to England for a battle with the Seattle Seahawks at Tottenham Stadium, home of the Tottenham Hotspur of the Premiere League. For a third-consecutive season, Oakland sacrifices a home game to international football — playing home games in Mexico City in each of the past two seasons.

The Raiders will also host the Cleveland Browns, coming off the NFL’s second ever 0-16 season, in week 4 and Indianapolis Colts in Week 8 following their bye. They travel to Miami for a Week 3 showdown with the Dolphins one week after a trip to Denver. Weeks 11 and 12 bring Oakland another back-to-back road trip, first to Arizona and the Cardinals then at the Ravens in Baltimore.

Oakland will also travel on the road and play the Cincinnati Bengals in week 15.

The first 12 games seem to set up favorably for the Raiders, who will look to carry at least nine wins into December and their final five games, which will include both meetings with the back-to-back reigning division champ Chiefs along with their visit from the Steelers.

Oakland’s full schedule is as follows (all times pacific):

Week 1: vs. Rams, Monday, Sept. 10, 7:20 p.m. (ESPN)

Week 2: at Broncos, Sunday, Sept. 16, 1:25 p.m. (CBS)

Week 3: at Dolphins, Sunday, Sept. 23, 10:00 a.m. (CBS)

Week 4: vs. Browns, Sunday, Sept. 30, 1:05 p.m. (FOX)

Week 5: at Chargers Sunday, Oct. 7, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)

Week 6: vs. Seahawks (at London), Sunday, Oct. 14, 10:00 a.m. (FOX)

Week 7: BYE

Week 8: vs. Colts, Sunday, Oct. 28, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)

Week 9: at 49ers, Thursday, Nov. 1, 5:20 p.m. (FOX/NFLN)

Week 10: vs. Chargers, Sunday, Nov. 11, 1:05 p.m. (FOX)

Week 11: at Cardinals, Sunday, Nov. 18, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)

Week 12: at Ravens, Sunday, Nov. 25, 10:00 a.m. (CBS)

Week 13: vs. Chiefs, Sunday, Dec. 2, 1:05 p.m. (CBS)

Week 14: vs. Steelers, Sunday, Dec. 9, 5:20 p.m. (NBC)

Week 15: at Bengals, Sunday, Dec. 16, 10:00 a.m. (CBS)

Week 16: vs. Broncos, Monday, Dec. 24, 5:15 p.m. (ESPN)

Week 17: at Chiefs, Sunday, Dec. 30, 10:00 a.m. (CBS)