Fans like me of the Oakland Raiders now have a date and a place where the 2012 Raiders preseason will start. The Oakland Raiders will host the Cowboys in Oakland in a nationally televised game on August 13. The game will be the big national Monday night game and will be seen on ESPN, with a 5 p.m. PT kickoff. Things will start at home for the Raiders and the game will be in their O.co Coliseum. It’s the 28th time the Raiders and Cowboys have played in preseason action, with the Raiders leading the series 18-9. I think the Raiders – Cowboys games are always exciting and the two teams are probably the most loved and most hated in the NFL, which is which would depend on who you asked.

The Raiders announced their preseason schedule along with more details about their regular season opponents. I’m excited about things starting to move forward and more details about the Raiders’ 2012 schedule being announced. All this is only days after the the team convened for their first day of the Offseason Program.

Preseason Games

The Raiders will play against the Dallas Cowboys on August 13, then in Arizona against the Cardinals the next week. The Raiders will welcome Detroit to Oakland between August 23-26 with the last game against the Seahawks the next week. The times and the national TV outlets have yet to be announced. The preseason schedule seems pretty easy to me, with no great challenges. The regular season is a whole different story.

Regular Season Home Games

The 2012 NFL regular season starts with some Wednesday games on September 5, with September 9th as the first Sunday of the season. The Raiders will welcome the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars, New Orleans Saints, Pittsburgh Steelers, San Diego Chargers and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Broncos, Steelers and Saints all qualified for the 2011 playoffs and will all be great games to watch.

Regular Season Away Games

Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, San Diego Chargers, Atlanta Falcons, Baltimore Ravens, Carolina Panthers, Cincinnati Bengals and the Miami Dolphins. Again, the Broncos, as well as the Ravens, Bengals and Falcons all had playoff positions in 2011.

Although born and raised with Eagles fans in Philadelphia, Freddy Sherman has always been a citizen of Raider Nation at heart. Since his dad got him a signed George Blanda football as child, to meeting Lyle Alzado in the 1980s, he hasn’t looked back. Follow him on twitter @thefredsherman

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“I don’t have the answer, obviously,” Jackson said. “I talk to the team about it all the time. I don’t just talk. I yell, I scream, I threaten. I’ve done everything. I get a bunch of letters of people telling me other things I should try, too. And please don’t send any new ones because those things don’t work.”

The Raiders (8-7) head into their must-win season finale against San Diego needing four penalties for 11 yards to break both records held by the 1998 Kansas City Chiefs.

Considering the Raiders have committed at least four penalties in 27 straight games and have had at least 11 yards in penalties in all but three games since moving back to Oakland in 1995, it seems like a safe bet those records will fall.

Jackson vowed at the start of training camp that he would fix a problem that has plagued the Raiders for most of their history. Oakland has committed at least 100 penalties for 12 straight seasons and have ranked in the top five in total penalties in the NFL for five straight seasons.

Jackson has had three officials at most practices in order to curb the problem and said they usually see about three or four infractions a day. That rises to more than 10 a game when it counts.

The players have also instituted a $100 fine system for committing penalties with a jar on defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan’s desk collecting the loot.

“Charity will love us at the end of the year,” Bresnahan said.

But the flags keep flying each week. The Raiders have hit double digits in four straight games, including a season-high tying 15 in last week’s overtime win at Kansas City that featured a delay of game that negated a fake field goal for a touchdown.

“I wish we knew what it was,” quarterback Carson Palmer said. “It’s not a bunch of false starts. It’s not just holdings. It’s kind of all over the place. In special teams, on a touchdown a delay of game. It’s just been a weird year. There’s been some calls that you can’t find on film when you go back and watch them. It’s not one thing. It’s not a trend. As those flags get going in games I always have guys come up to me on the sideline saying, ‘This is what happens when you play for the Raiders.’”

There have been quite a variety of penalties with 58 being pre-snap calls, including 20 offsides calls and 19 false starts. There have also been a league-worst 29 personal fouls, and 39 holding calls.

The biggest problem has been on defense where the Raiders have committed a league-worst 78 penalties on defense — more than twice the league average of 35. They have 58 penalties on offense — tied for fourth most — and are tied for sixth with 19 on special teams.

“You want the penalties to hold down because they’re going to come back and bite you sooner or later,” said defensive tackle Tommy Kelly, who has been called for seven. “To me, just limit the 15-yarders, the big ones. We can deal with the 5-yarders. But the 15-yarders are the ones keeping the drives alive.”

There have been some costly ones as the Raiders have given opponents 54 first downs with penalties, including 20 drives that led to a score. Penalties aided Buffalo’s two fourth-quarter TD drives in a 38-35 Oakland loss in September and Detroit’s two fourth-quarter TD drives in the Raiders 28-27 loss earlier this month.

“I stay up late at night trying to figure this out, as much as I can,” Jackson said. “I’ve worked at that as hard as I’ve worked at anything. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen, but we’ll have a long discussion about penalties when this season is over. I promise you that.”

In all, 43 players have accounted for the penalties, including Terrelle Pryor, who committed a false start to negate his only play all season. Jackson also has a penalty for challenging a scoring play in Week 2 at Buffalo, which is against the rules.

Cornerback Stanford Routt has been the most penalized player in the league with 16 — one more than the entire Green Bay defense. Offensive linemen Khalif Barnes and Jared Veldheer are next with 10 apiece, followed by defensive tackle Richard Seymour with nine.

“Obviously, getting penalties is never a good thing, but you can’t let that get in your head, because if you do then you’re playing into the other team’s hands,” Routt said. “You don’t ever want to let the referees decide the game, and if you let them get in your head, you’re letting them decide the game.”

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The fine jar in the defensive meeting room fills up with bills, suggestions pour in from fans and coach Hue Jackson’s voice gets hoarse from yelling.

Despite plenty of effort to cure the Oakland Raiders age-old penalty problem, this year’s team is on pace to shatter the NFL record for penalties and yards penalized in a season.

“I don’t have the answer, obviously,” Jackson said. “I talk to the team about it all the time. I don’t just talk. I yell, I scream, I threaten. I’ve done everything. I get a bunch of letters of people telling me other things I should try, too. And please don’t send any new ones because those things don’t work.”

The Raiders (8-7) head into their must-win season finale against San Diego needing four penalties for 11 yards to break both records held by the 1998 Kansas City Chiefs.

Considering the Raiders have committed at least four penalties in 27 straight games and have had at least 11 yards in penalties in all but three games since moving back to Oakland in 1995, it seems like a safe bet those records will fall.

Jackson vowed at the start of training camp that he would fix a problem that has plagued the Raiders for most of their history. Oakland has committed at least 100 penalties for 12 straight seasons and have ranked in the top five in total penalties in the NFL for five straight seasons.

Jackson has had three officials at most practices in order to curb the problem and said they usually see about three or four infractions a day. That rises to more than 10 a game when it counts.

The players have also instituted a $100 fine system for committing penalties with a jar on defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan’s desk collecting the loot.

“Charity will love us at the end of the year,” Bresnahan said.

But the flags keep flying each week. The Raiders have hit double digits in four straight games, including a season-high tying 15 in last week’s overtime win at Kansas City that featured a delay of game that negated a fake field goal for a touchdown.

“I wish we knew what it was,” quarterback Carson Palmer said. “It’s not a bunch of false starts. It’s not just holdings. It’s kind of all over the place. In special teams, on a touchdown a delay of game. It’s just been a weird year. There’s been some calls that you can’t find on film when you go back and watch them. It’s not one thing. It’s not a trend. As those flags get going in games I always have guys come up to me on the sideline saying, ‘This is what happens when you play for the Raiders.’”

There have been quite a variety of penalties with 58 being pre-snap calls, including 20 offsides calls and 19 false starts. There have also been a league-worst 29 personal fouls, and 39 holding calls.

The biggest problem has been on defense where the Raiders have committed a league-worst 78 penalties on defense — more than twice the league average of 35. They have 58 penalties on offense — tied for fourth most — and are tied for sixth with 19 on special teams.

“You want the penalties to hold down because they’re going to come back and bite you sooner or later,” said defensive tackle Tommy Kelly, who has been called for seven. “To me, just limit the 15-yarders, the big ones. We can deal with the 5-yarders. But the 15-yarders are the ones keeping the drives alive.”

There have been some costly ones as the Raiders have given opponents 54 first downs with penalties, including 20 drives that led to a score. Penalties aided Buffalo’s two fourth-quarter TD drives in a 38-35 Oakland loss in September and Detroit’s two fourth-quarter TD drives in the Raiders 28-27 loss earlier this month.

“I stay up late at night trying to figure this out, as much as I can,” Jackson said. “I’ve worked at that as hard as I’ve worked at anything. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen. Sometimes it just doesn’t happen, but we’ll have a long discussion about penalties when this season is over. I promise you that.”

In all, 43 players have accounted for the penalties, including Terrelle Pryor, who committed a false start to negate his only play all season. Jackson also has a penalty for challenging a scoring play in Week 2 at Buffalo, which is against the rules.

Cornerback Stanford Routt has been the most penalized player in the league with 16 — one more than the entire Green Bay defense. Offensive linemen Khalif Barnes and Jared Veldheer are next with 10 apiece, followed by defensive tackle Richard Seymour with nine.

“Obviously, getting penalties is never a good thing, but you can’t let that get in your head, because if you do then you’re playing into the other team’s hands,” Routt said. “You don’t ever want to let the referees decide the game, and if you let them get in your head, you’re letting them decide the game.”

Oakland Raiders’ fans everywhere are patiently, or impatiently, waiting for New Year’s Day to arrive. Forget the big New Year’s Eve bash, we just want to watch the Silver and Black defeat the San Diego Chargers, while the Kansas City Chiefs blow out the crumbling Denver Broncos on January 1, 2012.

There are still three more days before we find out how this will play out, and the closer we get the stronger my belief becomes that we’ll get our wish.

First, let’s look at the scenario in Denver. Even though Kansas City isn’t playing for a playoff berth, they have strong reasons for wanting a victory at Sports Authority Field. The Chiefs’ quarterback Kyle Orton is returning to play against the team that dumped him for Tebow, and that’s has to sting more than a little.

Orton is out to prove that Denver made a big mistake in thinking that Tebow was their savior. The Broncos were lucky in more than a few of their wins with the young quarterback at the helm, but he’s started to crumble quickly. Denver was stomped in their last two losses, 40-14 by the Buffalo Bills and 41-23 by the New England Patriots. On top of that, their players have really taken a beating, and they’re dealing with a lot of injuries.

The Chiefs’ interim coach, Romeo Crennel, needs the win to save his job, and even Orton may not keep his in 2012 if the team doesn’t do well in Denver. That’s quite a bit of motivation. Is it enough for Kansas City to get the victory? I believe it is.

The biggest concern for the Raiders, of course, is their game against the Chargers. While the team has been inconsistent this year to say the least, they’ve were able to beat San Diego on the road, and won both of their games against the Chargers in 2010.

The Silver and Black will be on fire for this one. The players showed they have heart in the game on Christmas Eve, and they were also extremely resilient. Quarterback Carson Palmer does well against San Diego, and potentially having two exceptional receivers on the field in Denarius Moore and Jacoby Ford, could turn this game into a high scoring offensive show for the Raiders.

Palmer commented on Wednesday, “So this is a big moment for this team and our fans and the fact that we get to play at home is obviously a huge advantage any time we get to play in front of our fans in that stadium because they can be so loud. So it’s exciting, this whole team’s excited.”

After so many years without the hope of even being in the playoffs, the Silver and Black have given us an exciting 2011, and the team could take their season farther than we even thought was possible. Just believe.

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan from the time she could walk. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett . Follow her at www.facebook.com/KCDermodyWriter or on Twitter @kcdermody.

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Practice has begun for the Oakland Raiders this Wednesday morning, December 28, and several players who’ve been out with injury are back in full participation, according to Steve Corkran Raiders blogger for Contra Costa Times/Bay Area News Group . The most exciting news of the day has to be that sophomore receiver Jacoby Ford is one of those players.

The big question still on everyone’s mind may be running back Darren McFadden, but the unfortunate news there is that he sat out at practice, and as predicted he is unlikely to return for the New Year’s Day game against the San Diego Chargers. I believe we could see him on the field if the Silver and Black continue on to the playoffs, but both McFadden and his physicians will have to determine if it’s worth risking his future in the NFL.

A return by Ford would definitely be a positive factor in the must-win game against San Diego. He was said to be running routes and catching passes this morning, and that’s certainly a very good sign. He’s been a big help to the team and has contributed to more than a few of their victories since becoming a part of the Silver and Black as a rookie in 2010.

In week six against the Cleveland Browns he made a dazzling 101-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, showing off his lightening speed and tied the record for the third longest kickoff return in the team’s history. Ford was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week for his exceptional performance, and in addition to the kickoff return, he had an incredibly fast 27-yard run and a total of three passes on 43 yards, making his job look easy.

In 2010, you might remember it was Ford who was a big part of the Raiders’ win against Kansas City with two miracle catches in the final minutes of the game.

Free safety Michael Huff told us on Monday that he would definitely be in the game this Sunday after missing the previous two. He was in full participation at practice this morning as well, and it looks like he will be fulfilling his promise.

Running backs Michael Bush and Taiwan Jones were also in full participation, and Corkran tweeted, ” No sign of Big John Henderson at practice. Wouldn’t be surprised to see him placed on injured reserve this week.”

But the news is mostly good, and as we get closer to 2012 all I can think about is, what will happen on New Year’s Day? Focusing on the positive, I’ll keep picturing a Raiders win and a Broncos loss, and hope that picture becomes the reality by Sunday evening. What a great way to kick off the New Year.

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan from the time she could walk. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett . Follow her at www.facebook.com/KCDermodyWriter or on Twitter @kcdermody.

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The Oakland Raiders might have gotten their spark back after it seemed to go out during at least two of their three recent losses. It nearly died in the battles against the Miami Dolphins and the Green Bay Packers, and there just wasn’t enough to get that flame going to defeat the Detroit Lions. But fortunately, it seems to have returned, and players are starting to sound like they’re part of the team fans know and love.

The must-win defeat of the Kansas City Chiefs, and some exceptional stand out plays showed their heart is in it to win, and hearing some of the players and coaches shortly after the game over the last couple of days there is no denying that.

Stanford Routt, an Al Davis favorite, was responsible for one of two interceptions against the Chiefs’ quarterback, Kyle Orton, on Christmas Eve. He posted on Twitter after the game, “Not gonna dwell on the small stuff….just gonna enjoy this because I can’t ask for anything better than WIN on Christmas Eve!”

He also tweeted, “We’re a movement by ourselves…but a force when we’re together,” which I believe speaks volumes for the team.

Tommy Kelly, the Raiders’ defensive tackled commented on the Chiefs’ game, “At the end of the day, if we win 16-13, I don’t care how we get there. After last week losing 28-27 and giving up 14 points in the last five or six minutes, I don’t even care to tell you the truth. I just want to win and go to the playoffs for the first time in my career.”

Possibly my favorite quote after the victory on Christmas Eve was a tweet by tight end Brandon Myers, “Early Xmas present to #RaiderNation we are gonna give it our ALL to beat SD an make the playoffs. Much love.”

Myers was part of that amazing play when they pulled off the fake field goal and punter Shane Lechler, the holder on the play, threw a shovel pass to Myers who ran untouched into the endzone for the touchdown. Unfortunately it was called back for a delay of game penalty, but at least this time, we’re not talking about how that penalty (and others) led to a loss.

Although it’s too soon to know which injured players will make a return for the final game of the season coming up this Sunday, there is a possibility that we’ll see receiver Jacoby Ford back on the field. He’s missed eight games, but if he can be in for this final, must-win situation, he will.

Safety Michael Huff, who had never missed a game at any level of his career, has missed four this season with a hamstring injury. This morning he commented, “It feels good to be this close. It’s been a while since it’s been like this around here. It’s a good feeling. We know we have to go out there and handle our business this week and everything will take care of itself.”

Huff also added, “I’ll be out there,” Huff said Monday morning. “I’m not going to miss this one.”

There is a possibility that running back Darren McFadden could return for week 17, but he’d have to play through pain, and head coach Hue Jackson might want to save him for a playoff game rather than risk further injury. We won’t know more until later in the week, and I think the chances are pretty slim for him to come back against San Diego.

Either way, the spark has returned, and it’s bigger than ever. I do believe we’ll see them defeat the Chargers. It’s rare that you’ll ever hear me say this, but “Go Chiefs!” And, of course, to the Raiders, “Just win baby!”

K.C. Dermody grew up in the Bay Area of California, and has been an Oakland Raiders fan from the time she could walk. She has continued her loyalty to the team through its many ups and downs over the decades, and has been privileged to meet several of her favorite players, including famed quarterback, Jim Plunkett . Follow her at www.facebook.com/KCDermodyWriter or on Twitter @kcdermody.

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