The Sports Xchange

ALAMEDA, Calif. — Oakland Raiders head coach Jack Del Rio doesn’t plan on allowing his team to get a big head.

He is, in fact, amused by the concept.

The Raiders are 2-1, winners of two consecutive games, and appear to have put their season-opening 33-13 face plant against the Cincinnati Bengals in the rear-view mirror.

An 11-game road losing streak is history, as is a 16-game streak in the eastern time zone that dated back to 2009, both courtesy of a 27-20 win at Cleveland.

Next up are the 0-3 Chicago Bears, who are coming off a game in which they punted on all 10 possessions in a 26-0 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. The Bears just dumped journeyman sackmaster Jared Allen on the Carolina Panthers, starting quarterback Jay Cutler is bothered by a hamstring strain and they look to be the weakest of the four winless NFL teams.

Oddsmakers even have the Raiders favored to win on the road. Del Rio went so far as calling the concept of being overconfident “humorous” and believes his team feels the same way.

“We’ve got way too much work to do,” Del Rio said. “We respect everybody. We fear nobody. Certainly we understand (the Bears have) a lot of talented players and coaches that work real hard. We’re going to do our best each and every week to prepare and put together the best active 46 so we can go compete.”

Fullback Marcel Reece has been on the roster for all 16 of the eastern time-zone losses, and when the Raiders beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-24 on Dec. 6, 2009, he was inactive and didn’t even make the trip.

So the flight home from Cleveland was a blissful one for Reece.

“Wins like that one, you feel like you want the plane to loop de loop,” Reece said.

Reece believes the current Raiders have a different vibe that will serve them well and help with any bouts of overconfidence.

“Obviously it has a lot to do with Jack and the coaching staff, and it trickles down to the captains and the team and the reset of the players,” Reece said. “It’s all about having fun. Football is a fun game and we have to make fun out of it.”

Free safety Charles Woodson said the Raiders will approach the Chicago game — and subsequent ones — with tunnel vision.

“I think it’s simple. You’ve just got to focus on the next one and not get ahead of ourselves,” Woodson said. “To be 2-1 is great, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s a long way to go. We can’t be worried about down the road or what can be or what might be.

“We need to worry about next week and whatever challenges that presents. We need to focus on Chicago, getting on a roll, going across the country and focusing the same way we did last weekend.”

Defensive tackle Dan Williams, brought in as a free agent from the Arizona Cardinals, said Del Rio has already laid the groundwork for moving on.

“Coach Del Rio has been up front in telling us that winning two games doesn’t mean anything,” Williams said. “And he’s right. Two wins doesn’t achieve any of our goals. We want to win the west and we want to go to the playoffs. It’s always good to win because you get a little momentum and a little confidence. But at the same time, we can’t get big-headed.”

SERIES HISTORY: 14th regular-season meeting. Raiders lead series, 7-6 and won the last game 25-20 in Oakland on Nov. 27, 2011. Carson Palmer passed for 301 yards for the Raiders, who won their third straight game to improve to 7-4 on the season. It is the last time the Raiders won three consecutive games. In their last game in Chicago, the defending AFC champion Raiders blew an 18-3 halftime lead and lost 24-21 on Oct. 5, 2003. Oakland came into the game 2-2 but the win started a downward spiral that ended in a 4-12 season. Kordell Stewart passed for 160 yards and rushed for 52 against the Raiders.

GAME PLAN

–Look no further than the Cleveland win as a blueprint for road success against a quarterback-challenged team. The Raiders will look to spread the field and allow Derek Carr to spread the wealth among receivers Amari Cooper and Michael Crabtree in particular.

The Raiders will send running back Latavius Murray directly into the heart of a defense giving up 4.7 yards per carry through three games, much of it late if they are fortunate enough to have a lead.

Defensively, the Raiders will concentrate their efforts on Chicago’s Matt Forte, their best and most consistent weapon, then look to rush the Bears quarterback of choice — whether it’s Cutler or Jimmy Clausen — with the advantage in down and distance presents itself.