If kickoff weekend were a “Peanuts” episode, this is the part where Lucy pulls the ball away just as Charlie Brown’s about to kick it.
There is some good news for Matt Millen & Co.: The Raiders were so bad last year that fans back in Detroit may actually root for the Lions on opening day.
Combined 2006 record: 5-27";
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i++] = new Array("","Sept. 23: Browns at Raiders","Oakland's Tyler Brayton is ejected after an unsportsmanlike penalty.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061107/061107_brayton_hmed.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Ted S. Warren", "AP", "273", "414", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i-1].body = "
If you had the misery of watching every minute of every Cleveland and Oakland game last year, you saw them combine to score just 34 offensive touchdowns in 32 games. San Diego’s LaDainian Tomlinson scored 31 TDs in 16 games all by his lonesome.
Combined 2006 record: 6-26
";
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i++] = new Array("","Oct. 7: Dolphins at Texans","Miami quarterback Daunte Culpepper is sacked by the Bills defense.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060917/060917_miamiBuffalo_hmed_1p.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Eliot J. Schechter", "Getty Images", "273", "356", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i-1].body = "
Here’s the 2007 season checklist for Dolphins fans: New coach. No quarterback. No hope. There’s a very real chance that Houston’s Matt Schaub, he of the six-career-TD-passes Schaubs, will be the biggest offensive star in this Week 5 game that aspires to be a yawner.
Combined 2006 record: 12-20";
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i++] = new Array("","Oct. 21: Bucs at Lions","Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/040921/040921_gruden_vsmall_5p_040921.vsmall.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "Matt Stroshane", "Getty Images file", "185", "148", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i-1].body = "
The true lack of brilliance of this game is that never -- ever -- in NFL history has \"Tampa at Detroit\" signified a great game.
Since joining the NFL in 1976, the Buccaneers have fielded just nine winning teams. Our friends the Lions have produced eight winning teams over the same period -- that’s 17 teams better than .500 in a combined 62 seasons. There's little hope 2007 will be any better.
Combined 2006 record: 7-25";
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i++] = new Array("","Nov. 4: Texans at Raiders","Texans defensive end Mario Williams tries to get to the quarterback.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/060831/060831_williams_vmed_12p.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "David J. Phillip", "AP", "234", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i-1].body = "
We actually looked forward to the Houston-Oakland match-up –- back in 1967.
If we had feelings, we'd feel bad for Raiders fans. They suffered a real tough loss in 2001. They were humiliated in 2002. Their team couldn’t score in 2006.
And here in 2007, they’ve spent the past three months beating up Berkeley kids and stealing their tuition money to pay for season tickets, only to find that their home schedule begins with Detroit, Cleveland, Kansas City and Houston. Al Davis can't die soon enough.
Combined 2006 record: 8-24";
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i++] = new Array("","Nov. 11: Lions at Cardinals","Arizona quarterback Matt Leinart tries to escape the Oakland defense.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061022/061022_leinart_hmed_10p.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Jonathan Ferrey", "Getty Images", "273", "366", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i-1].body = "
The We Love Receivers Bowl features the two most habitually inept franchises in NFL history, with a combined nine postseason victories in 164 years of NFL football. Just two of those playoff victories have come since Detroit's 1957 NFL championship. That’s not a misprint, folks: two franchises, two playoff victories since 1957.
Combined 2006 record: 8-24";
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i++] = new Array("","Nov. 25: Texans at Browns","Jets quarterback Chad Pennington is pressured by the Texans' Mario Williams.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061126/061126_jets_hmed_130p.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "Chris Mcgrath", "Getty Images", "263", "423", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i-1].body = "
These two NFL jugger-nots have combined to win 52 games over the past five seasons, against 108 losses (.325). To put that into perspective, New England has won 59 regular-season games over the same five years. Indy has won 60.
Combined 2006 record: 10-22";
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i++] = new Array("","Dec. 2: Browns at Cardinals","Browns tight end Kellen Winslow is tackled by the Broncos defense.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061022/061022_BroncosBrowns_vlg_5p.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "right", "Kiichiro Sato", "AP", "259", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i-1].body = "
Since resurfacing in Cleveland in 1999, the Browns are a spectacular 40-88. That makes them no match for the mighty Cardinals – 41-87 since 1999.
Combined 2006 record: 9-23";
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i++] = new Array("","Dec. 9: Raiders at Packers","Oakland running back Justin Fargas is gang tackled by the Jets.","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/070118/070118_raiders_vmed_1p.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Julie Jacobson", "AP", "234", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i-1].body = "
JaMarcus Russell will be 22 years old when he walks into Lambeau Field with the Raiders in early December. There’s at least a 50-50 chance Brett Favre will have tossed more than 22 INTs by that point in the season. By August, \"Favre INTs > Russell's age\" will surely be a prop play somewhere in Vegas.
Combined 2006 record: 10-22";
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i++] = new Array("","Dec. 30: Lions at Packers","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photos/061217/061217_favre_vlrg_130p.vmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "left", "Matthew Stockman", "Getty Images", "286", "198", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
spt_0413_nfl_games_to_skip[i-1].body = "
Someone up there likes us. They really, really like us.
We thought the NFL would stick the Fourth Annual Brett Favre Farewell Game in a nationally televised primetime slot. Instead, it’s a 1 p.m. game that, the good Lord willin' and the crick don't rise much, won’t be shown outside Michigan or Wisconsin.
For the record, we wrote about the first Brett Favre Farewell game back in November 2004.
Combined 2006 record: 11-21";
// END editorial data