This Week: The New England Patriots (5-4) will travel to Oakland, Calif. this weekend to face the Raiders (5-4) at Network Associates Coliseum (63,132 capacity). The game will be televised on ESPN. Kickoff is scheduled at 8:30 p.m. This will be the Patriots final game of their three-game road trip.
Television: This week's game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN (locally on WCVB Channel 5). The play-by-play duties will be handled by Mike Patrick, who will be joined in the booth by Paul Maguire and Joe Theismann. Suzy Kolber will provide sideline reports throughout the game.
Radio: Every Patriots game can be heard in stereo on the Patriots official flagship station WBCN 104.1 FM. Gil Santos, now in his 26th season as the voice of the Patriots, will call the game along with Patriots Hall of Famer Gino Cappelletti, who will provide in-depth analysis for his 22nd season. A complete list of the Patriots WBCN Rock Radio Network can be found on pages 462-463 of the 2002 Patriots media guide or at www.patriots.com.
National Radio: This week's game can also be heard nationally on CBS Radio. Joel Meyers and Bob Trumpy will be calling all the action and Warren Moon will be reporting from the sidelines.
Patriots in Prime Time: This weekend's game against the Raiders will be the Patriots third nationally televised game of the 2002 season. New England will appear in a total of six nationally televised games this season, a single-season franchise record. Their previous high of five was set in 1998. They faced the Philadelphia Eagles in a preseason prime-time match up and opened the 2002 season with a 30-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night Football. The Patriots will be featured on Thanksgiving against the Lions (11/28) and will appear on Monday Night Football against the Tennessee Titans (12/16) and again on ESPN versus the New York Jets (12/22).
Kickin' It: Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri boomed the longest field goal in Patriots history last week against the Bears when he nailed a 57-yard attempt in the first quarter. This season Vinatieri has made 15-of-16 field goals and has converted 22 of his last 23 attempts. Vinatieri is the most accurate kicker in Patriots history, having made 81.4 percent of his kicks (175 of 215) and also ranks fifth in NFL history over his seven-year career. On the Road Again: The Patriots will conclude their three-game road trip this weekend when they travel to Oakland to face the Raiders. The road trip, which will cover 7,872 miles, is the longest road streak this year in the NFL. This week's game will be the first of three games played over an 11-day span, including two on the road. After traveling to Oakland, the Patriots return home to host the Vikings (11/24) before traveling to Detroit to battle the Lions on Thanksgiving (11/28/02).
