OAKLAND — Every NFL team plays at least one prime-time game per season, but it has been 10 years since the Raiders played Sunday Night Football, the biggest stage of them all.
The Raiders for years have gotten the token Thursday night game, with an opening week late start Monday night game mixed in. There was one Week 3 Monday night game in 2013, but NBC’s Sunday Night Football has largely taken over as the premiere slot since taking over the broadcast in 2006.
The Raiders — and the Coliseum — make their glorious return to the NFL’s showcase game when they host the Denver Broncos on Sunday at 5:30 p.m. in a battle for first place in the AFC West.
“Those are things that happen when you play good football,” Raiders coach Jack Del Rio said. “We anticipate having a lot of these kinds of games.”
This is the Raiders’ first scheduled Sunday Night Football appearance since 2006 (they played a late Sunday night game in 2013 to accommodate converting the Coliseum over from a baseball field when the A’s had a playoff game the night before). The last one at home came in September 2005.
This game’s selection for prime time showed faith in the Raiders’ resurgence and has been justified with their 6-2 start, their best since 2001. Oakland enters the game — and the second half of the season — in a flat-footed tie for first place with the Broncos (6-2). Third-place Kansas City (5-2) is lurking right behind them.
It’s the most significant home game since at least the finale in 2011, when a win over the Chargers would’ve sent the Raiders to the playoffs. In reality, it might be the biggest since the AFC championship game in 2002.
But don’t tell the players that.
“It’s cool to talk about,” quarterback Derek Carr said of the Sunday night hype. “But when it comes down to it, when the ball’s kicked off, you just want to win. It doesn’t change anything and that’s with any game.”
That rings especially true for linebacker Bruce Irvin, who played in a pair of Super Bowls and plenty of prime time showcases during his four seasons with the Seattle Seahawks.
“I’m used to it,” Irvin said.
Wide receiver Amari Cooper, who played in the national championship game his freshman year of college at Alabama and then twice in the Sugar Bowl, was another to downplay Sunday’s matchup.
“It’s not like it’s a playoff game or anything like that,” Cooper said. “We just have to go out there and play ball.”
Just because they are downplaying it, doesn’t mean the Raiders aren’t happy to be in this position.
“It’s always good to be talked about in a positive way,” Irvin said. “It’s been a long time since the Raiders have been really highlighted like this during the season, but we’re going to try to keep it as normal as possible. Have a great week of practice, make sure we’re on our assignments as a defense, make sure we communicate — over-communicate — during the week so we have no issues at home with the crowd. But other than that we’re just trying to have a good week of practice so it translates to Sunday.”
The Broncos are a team plenty familiar with this stage. This season marks their fifth straight year with multiple SNF appearances. But that doesn’t mean it’s gotten old for star linebacker Von Miller.
“I still get up for them,” Miller said on a conference call with Bay Area media this week. “It’s still important to me. It will always be important to me. I’m looking forward to going out there and putting our best foot forward.”
The atmosphere will be worth watching. Whether it’s the extra pregame time or playing under the lights, there’s always a different feeling to night games at the Coliseum. The Raiders are 17-18 all-time on Sunday Night Football dating to 1978.
“Anytime you’re going to be under the lights, regardless of the records, I think you get a little fired up for that,” Del Rio said. “It ought to be an amazing atmosphere, so I think enjoy it. That’s what we do these things for, that’s what all of the sacrifices are for. Games like this, they’re a lot of fun. So, we’re going to enjoy it.”
Carr has played in two Thursday night games at the Coliseum, both victories, and said it reminds him of the atmosphere you wish for as a kid.
“You always dream of those kinds of things and it’s always fun,” Carr said. “It’s just always cool to play under the lights.”
The Raiders haven’t played their best football at home yet this season, going just 1-2. That’s mostly just brushed off as coincidence combined with competition — their two losses are to the only two teams they’ve faced with a winning record. But Oakland would love to end that chatter with the nation watching.
“That was the goal for us this year, to make sure we go out and hold down at home,” defensive end Khalil Mack said. “Being that we didn’t do it early on, this is going to be a new challenge for us and going against a team like this on a big stage is going to be a good way to put it out there on film.”