The reason for this post is as a 49ers Fan I believe the 49ers should play the Raiders every year and this is my argument for it.

I believe the NFL has the best schedule in pro sports. It's a basic formula with sixteen games. You play 6 division games. One AFC Division(4 games), One NFC Division(4 games) and the two other teams that finished in the same place as you did the previous year. Meaning the last place Browns will play the AFC West last place Chiefs and the AFC South last place Jags since they play the entire AFC East. It's a simple great formula I love and wish the NBA and MLB could come up with a similiar(albeit much longer) type of system. My only issue with the schedule and the way the NFL schedules in general is that regional rivals in different conferences(such as the Niners/Raiders, Jets/Giants) only get to play each other every 4 years. It's always baffled me why the NFL won't make an exception for one AFC vs NFC regional rivalry game every year. It would give the fans something to look forward to, it would heat up a lot of these rivalries and most of all it would be fun. This may sound tacky but you could even have some sort of trophy for the region that would be exchanged that would go to the winner every year. I know it sounds like a hokey college gimmick but you can't tell me a lot of 49ers and Raiders Fans wouldn't love busting the other teams fans balls on who had the bay area championship trophy every year.  A lot of people who I have explained this idea to claim that it would upset the parity the schedule has. It would only be one game and the parity argument I feel falls flat because say you are a team like the Buffalo Bills your parity is screwed since the Jets, Pats and Dolphins are in your division and are so good. And it would be a rivalry game so in theory the bad teams would be pumped to play the good teams and know them as well as a division foe within a few years. Here is my full proposal, add one game to the schedule and one more bye week(they're talking of adding two so this works) and make the season 19 weeks long. Start the season on Labor Day Weekend again and make it NFL Opening Day Rivalry Week every year. So the Sunday of Labor Day Weekend we would have this slate of games every year.

1. 49ers vs Raiders(Bay Area Title)

2. Jets vs Giants(NYC Title)

3. Cowboys vs Texans(Texas Title)

4. Bucs vs Dolphins(Florida Title)

5. Chiefs vs Rams(Missouri Valley Title)

6. Ravens vs Redskins(Capital Title)

7. Eagles vs Steelers(Pennsylvania Title)

8. Titans vs Panthers(Mid South Title)

9. Lions vs Browns(Great Lakes Title)

10. Falcons vs Jags(Dixie Title)

11. Colts vs Bears(Windy Cities Title)

12. Chargers vs Seahawks(Pacific Title)

13. Broncos vs Cardinals(Southwest Title)

(it got tricky here because we run out of regional rivalries, so instead of making the remaining teams go into a pool i just manufactured a fun idea that could get them to play)

14. Patriots vs Saints(North vs South Title)

15. Vikings vs Bills(Northern Border Title)

16. Bengals vs Packers(Midwest Title)

On years where the teams are matched up as inter division opponents the league could add an extra conference with a similar record so the regional rivals don't play twice in one year. So if it was imposed on this years schedule a team like the Bears or Giants would be added to the Niners Schedule.

Yeah it may sound a little tacky but how awesome would be to see the Raiders vs Niners every year first game of the season for NoCal bragging rights. What does everyone else think??