The NFL announced the entire regular season schedule today.  While the Raiders 2012 opponents and which would be home or away have been known for some time, the schedule is the first chance for fans to find out the order of the games and also which games would be televised in prime time and where the bye week falls.

Here is a link to the Raiders schedule.

Of note, the Raiders opening game is the second game on a Monday Night Football Double header on ESPN on Sep 10th against San Diego at the Black Hole.

The team has their bye in week 5.  Only two teams - the Colts and the Steelers - are earlier in the season on week 4.

Every year there is much (too much) analysis about which games the teams are likely to win or lose.  This is an exercise in futility as teams change so much from year to year and injuries take their toll.

The Raiders, like every team that has aspirations of the Lombardi trophy, will need to stop worrying about the schedule and start worrying about executing regardless of the challenges in front of them.  Now that they know their first challenge, the Chargers, they can begin their quest for a 4th Super Bowl win.

For more Raiders news and analysis throughout the day, follow me on Twitter @AsherMathews

This article is the work of Tyler Dickson, an avid fan of the Raiders and college football.  For more of his thoughts on players, as we lead up to the draft, follow him on Twitter @RaiderDraftnik

You can also check out his first Raiders-only mock draft or his 3 round mock draft.

The Raiders have known their 2012 opponents for some time, now, but will find out their actual schedule when the NFL announces it later today.  The announcement is set for 7pm ET/4pm PT tonight and can be watched on ESPN, among other places.

Here is a link to see the already-announced Preseason schedule and the teams that the Raiders will play at home and away.

For more Raiders news and analysis, follow me on Twitter @AsherMathews

The Raiders announced that they re-signed Safety Matt Giordano, yesterday night.

Giordano is 29.  He played for the Raiders last season as a backup, but started 9 games at FS due to an injury to Michael Huff.

Giordano's signing is likely for depth as he struggles with coverage assignments at times.  He did lead the team with 5 interceptions last season.

He played in 15 games total last year for the Raiders, and amassed 66 total tackles and one sack along with the interceptions.

For more Raiders news and analysis, follow me on Twitter @AsherMathews

The Raiders announced that they had signed potential TE Andre Hardy, late yesterday.

Hardy is very much a developmental prospect, having not played football in college.  He did play basketball, for the last two years at Cal State Fullerton, as a power forward.

The Raiders will be hoping that Hardy can transition from a basketball background to be a pass catching TE, much like Antonio Gates did with the Chargers.

Reggie McKenzie, the Raiders GM, was asked yesterday about whether he sees Terrelle Pryor as a viable possible backup for Carson Palmer as soon as this next season.

His response was, "Absolutely. Yep. Hopefully our quarterback coach and offensive coordinator, the staff, can work him starting next week's voluntary minicamp. And see if we can get him rolling. It's going to be a constant evaluation. But they need to find out how good he is and how good he can be."

TFDS has been skeptical of the lack of a veteran backup QB signed to date so his answer was somewhat surprising.  Since then, I've been mulling over why he wouldn't be signing another option.

Reviewing tape for new Raiders CB Shawntae Spencer was an interesting challenge.  First, Spencer didn't play much last season.  He went into the offseason training camp but was injured very quickly and by the time he healed he was down on the depth chart.

So, his 2011 tape was almost worthless, he played so infrequently.  I went back to 2010 tape to get a better idea of the player he could be.