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We already knew the Oakland Raiders had a tough road ahead in their quest to get out of .500 purgatory. While it is far too early to start talking about strength of schedule, the list of Oakland opponents is definitely daunting. Six playoff teams from a year ago, some tough tests on the road and the usual battles in the AFC West highlight the Raiders’ road to redemption in 2012.

While we don’t know what those opponents will be like we do know that the Raiders will do more traveling than any other team in the NFL.

Grantland.com writer Bill Barnwell penned an interesting piece on the effects of travel on an NFL team. As we all know teams going from West to East tend not to fare as well and in 2012 the Raiders will make more trips across more time zones than any team in league history.

All that flying will give Oakland more miles in the air than any team in the league this season. Just how that will affect the team remains to be seen.

No matter the amount of miles the Raiders will rack up it can’t be used an excuse. Last season the 49ers did a lot of flying (over 4,000 miles per roundtrip) and that didn’t slow their roll in reaching the playoffs. About all this means is there will be some free trips earned with all the miles the Raiders can cash in at the end of the season.

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On paper it would appear the Raiders landed a pretty manageable schedule for the 2012 season. Manageable only in the sense that they don’t play any back-to-backs on the road until the end of the season. As far as winning any of these games go…well…that’s a completely different story. One quick glance and you’ll notice the names of some pretty prominent NFL franchises. There is still plenty of business to be done before we start getting any idea of what Dennis Allen’s team will be looking like come September or any of the Oakland opposition for that matter.

While the Raiders won’t have to worry about any extended stays on the road they will have to contend with that problem that plagues all of us on the West Coast – adjusting to the three hour time difference when traveling east.

For the first time in franchise history the Raiders will be playing in the Eastern Time zone five times during the regular season. Typically West Coast teams don’t fare well when making the journey back east. So you can already see what type of a challenge Coach Allen is going to be up against.

Those five games are Week 2 in Miami, Week 6 in Atlanta, Week 10 in Baltimore, Week 12 in Cincinnati for Carson Palmer’s revenge game and Week 16 in Carolina.

Even more challenging is that three of those teams were in the playoffs with the other two being equally tough tests. Let’s not forget how the Dolphins did the silver and black last year in Miami and how much more improved the Cam Newton led Panthers might be.

But, again, this is all on paper. For all we know every one of these Eastern opponents could miss the postseason in 2012. For all we know the Raiders could be the best road team in the league in 2012. All we know right now is the Raiders have a full slate of games to get prepped for. We’ll start sweating the details once we have a 53-man roster in place.

Kirby Lee/Image of Sport-US PRESSWIRE

Behold! I give you the 2012 schedule for the Oakland Raiders in all its glory. Start planning accordingly, Raider Nation.