Raiders in Indianapolis for first of ten-day, multi-national road trip

Friday afternoon the Raiders left the facility in Alameda and headed for the airport. They boarded the first leg of a long journey that won’t have back in their own beds for ten days.

Today they are waking up in Indianapolis ready to prepare for their game against the Colts on Sunday. That’s a 5-hour flight covering 1933 miles. No big deal, really. They just went to Minneapolis last week which is about the same. But unlike their trip to Minneapolis, they won’t be boarding a flight back home Sunday night. They will be leaving the country.

That trip is nearly 4000 miles and about 8 hours flight time. Which is better than their trip straight from Oakland to London last year, arriving the day before the game.

In London the Raiders will set up camp and practice throughout the week, acclimating their bodies to the time change before facing the Chicago Bears as Tottenham Hotspur stadium next Sunday.

“Well, obviously we are playing in Indianapolis this week and it’s an eight-hour flight I believe from Indianapolis to London,” Gruden said Friday. “Doesn’t make sense flying five hours back to California, then 14 hours to London. That had a lot to do with it and obviously what we did last year didn’t work out on the scoreboard, and it didn’t give me any reason to not try something else. So, we are going to go over there and have a great time and prepare our hearts out to hopefully play a good game in London.”

It’s 10am in California and 6pm in London right now, so there is a significant time difference to consider. Jet lag is real.

After the game, they will board their flight home which will be 5357 miles and have them on the plane for close to 12 hours.

For a combined total of 11,290 miles flown. There are seven NFL teams that don’t fly that many miles all season. That’s also 25 hours on planes, and ten days away from home. Good thing they have the bye week afterward. They’re going to need it.