Oakland Raiders 2014 Schedule: Ranking the most anticipated games

Dec 8, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets cheerleaders perform during the game against the Oakland Raiders at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-USA TODAY Sports

#12. @ New York Jets (Week 1)

Quality of Opponent 

The Jets have been hovering around average and slightly above average ever since the Rex Ryan began and will be planning on being in the mix once again in 2014 after adding Michael Vick to be a potential stopgap for struggling rookie Geno Smith to develop behind a proven veteran going forward. That middling consistency is the Jets biggest problem however as they are just good enough to feel they have a chance, but without the defense they once had they are becoming less and less average each year drifting towards the bottoming out they may need to truly rebuild.

Rivalry 

I will give the Raiders-Jets matchup some credit for being a classic former AFL throwback game.

Location, Location, Location 

Season openers get strong points always. That doesn’t need much explanation so I will save a paragraph worth of cliches about the magic of the first game of the season for everybody.

Chance of Victory (Extremely Early Prognosis) 

Oakland has a bad record on the East Coast, but with a new look team of veterans eager to prove that they can bring the winning atmosphere into the franchise (similar to last year’s Indy game) and Matt Schaub looking for redemption from his terrible 2013 I will put it on the record nice and early that I like a Raiders road win to kick off 2014. Sue me.

Game Quality Ratings (Out of 10)

Quality of Opponent: 4

Rivalry: 1

Location, Location, Location: 10

Chance of Victory: 7

Overall Game Quality: 22 out of 40.