Post by TheShadow on May 28, 2007 5:29:37 GMT -5
raiders.realfootball365.com/
By Os Davis
The Oakland Raiders franchise has fallen on some seriously lean times as of late. Today's silver and black teams are often lumped near the bottom of the power rankings with traditional beatdogs like the Cleveland Browns (who last made a serious title run in 1969), Detroit Lions (now 50 years without a championship) and the Arizona Cardinals (60 years and counting).
However, a quick look at history shows a depressing reality behind the historical veneer: The truth is the Lombardi Trophy hasn't resided in Oakland since 1980, when a guy named John Madden, recently retired, was still known for coaching. Sure, Al Davis won, baby, in the '83 season, but that was from the eccentric L.A. period which most Raider fans have the good taste not to discuss much.
But, hey, the offseason is about positivity and optimism and good memories, right? Herewith is the all-time Oakland Raider tournament, a showdown between four Raider Super Bowl squads made possible by the folks at the second-greatest sports Web site out there, www.WhatIfSports.com.
Without further ado, then, the teams!
2002 Oakland Raiders : After Jon Gruden constructed a team, Bill Callahan operated it with one caveat: Rich Gannon would be freed up to pass to his heart's content. And in the 2002 season, Gannon played out of his mind. That season, the Raiders were No. 1 in passing completions and yardage and No. 2 in overall offense. (In short, the anti-2006 Oakland Raiders .) It was all downhill after '02, though.
1976 Oakland Raiders : One of the greatest single-season teams in the Super Bowl era of the NFL and the club everyone loved to hate. At 13-1, the only blight on their record was a terrible 48-17 lashing at the hands of probably the best pre-Belichick New England Patriots team. Even this loss was well avenged by a playoff win. Indeed, these guys must have been cheating, what with Ken Stabler completing an amazing two-thirds of his passes that year.
1983 Los Angeles Raiders: These guys were flashy and story-laden, just like an L.A. version of football would be. (Anyone remember Heaven Can Wait?) This squad was a bit of an anomaly in the Raider legend, known mostly for a running game led by Marcus Allen, still the all-time Raiders rushing leader.
1967 Oakland Raiders : Known unfairly for being smoked in Super Bowl II by the last great Titletown Green Bay Packers team, this Raiders team was dominant in rare fashion. They opened the season with 51-0 and 35-7 victories and never looked back, with QB Daryle Lamonica leading his guys to a whopping 468-233 cumulative score.
Let the tournament begin!
Playoff game No. 1: 2002 Raiders at 1976 Raiders
Early on in the game, Madden's strategy in handling the Gannon passing machine was a surprisingly conservative combination of light pass rushing and heavy coverage downfield. The first quarter finished knotted at 7, Jerry Rice putting in the TD for the 2002s.
In the second quarter, the 76ers were hurt by their own mistakes. The very first play of the quarter saw a drive end with a Rod Coleman sack. The next time the oldsters got the ball, a nice 10-yard completion to Fred Biletnikoff was nullified by a holding penalty at the line; Stabler followed up with an interception by Eric Barton that put the 2002s just 18 yards out of the goal line. Completions to Rice and Tim Brown gave the 2002 Raiders their second TD and a 14-7 lead.
After Gannon threw his only interception of the day, Stabler engineered an excellent six-play, 58-yard drive to put the score at 14-13 with just over one minute left in the half. The extra-point attempt is botched, however, and to make matters worse, the loose coverage twice allows Gannon to scramble for first downs in the final minute on the way to a Sebastian Janikowski field goal and a 17-13 halftime lead.
Clarence Davis ripped off a 47-yarder to start the third quarter and about three minutes later, the 1976 team had a 20-17 lead. Another unfortunate Stabler interception gives the 2002s the opportunity to again retake the lead when they start from the 21.
Things looked grim for the 76ers in the fourth as well; combining run and pass, the modern guys made it 30-20 early in the quarter and stopped a long Madden drive at their 15 to have the oldsters settle for the field goal.
However, the Snake was not to be outdone in this shootout. Twice connecting with Biletnikoff on long strikes, Stabler's boys scored a TD and two-point conversion to tie it up with four minutes left. The 1976 defense came through, too, ultimately forcing three straight incomplete passes from Gannon to get the ball back with 1:21. Davis contributed a pair of nice gains, and Stabler found Casper to get it to the 35.
And as the gun sounded, Fred Steinfort's kick split the uprights. 1976 Raiders 34, 2002 Raiders 31.
Playoff game No. 2: 1983 Los Angeles Raiders at 1967 Oakland Raiders .
After the wild barn burner of the tournament's first game, the Pasadena crowd was destined for something of a letdown. And oh, did they get it.
This was not smashmouth, grind-it-out Raider football; this was simply ineffective, clueless offenses. Plunkett and Lamonica may have turned in career years in real life, but in this game neither could manage 140 yards passing. (Perhaps it was the effects of time travel.)
However, Lamonica's sole TD strike in the fourth quarter on a drive highlighted by Biletnikoff squeezing 43 yards out of a short completion over the middle was enough. The defense dug in further to stuff Allen as it had all day, and the dreaded words "Los Angeles" had been eliminated from all great Raider teams discussion.
1967 Raiders 7, 1983 Raiders 6.
All-time Raider championship: 1967 Raiders at 1976 Raiders.
Despite the number-crunching milieu of the tournament, the final represented old-fashioned Raider football: two squads from an era when the team was perpetually feared well into the playoffs. One wonders what words the two Biletnikoffs exchanged before the start of the game.
www.whatifsports.com/nfl/boxscore.asp?GameID=2719402&ad=1
Whatever it was, the older Biletnikoff's guys should have been let in on the secret. In a stunning and brilliant performance, Lamonica and the 1967s turned this one into a laugher early, demonstrating the kind of dominance they showed in the AFL of the 1960s.
By halftime it was 24-3, with Clem Daniels running rampant and Dan Conners twice sacking Stabler, who appeared in this game to have lost his magical capacity for finding holes through which to slither past defenders. In true Raider fashion, 1967 coach John Rauch ordered his team to show no mercy, while in the opposition dressing room, Madden turned several dozen shades of purple.
Simply put, in the second half things went worse for the 1976 squad; at some point in the fourth quarter, the coach undoubtedly made the fateful decision to quit this coaching stuff and maybe make a video game or something...
Final score: 1967 Raiders 55, 1976 Raiders 3.
Congratulations to the 1967 Raiders for their prestigious victory on this, the eve of the 40th anniversary of the team's existence. If only they don't get the Packers next...
By Os Davis
The Oakland Raiders franchise has fallen on some seriously lean times as of late. Today's silver and black teams are often lumped near the bottom of the power rankings with traditional beatdogs like the Cleveland Browns (who last made a serious title run in 1969), Detroit Lions (now 50 years without a championship) and the Arizona Cardinals (60 years and counting).
However, a quick look at history shows a depressing reality behind the historical veneer: The truth is the Lombardi Trophy hasn't resided in Oakland since 1980, when a guy named John Madden, recently retired, was still known for coaching. Sure, Al Davis won, baby, in the '83 season, but that was from the eccentric L.A. period which most Raider fans have the good taste not to discuss much.
But, hey, the offseason is about positivity and optimism and good memories, right? Herewith is the all-time Oakland Raider tournament, a showdown between four Raider Super Bowl squads made possible by the folks at the second-greatest sports Web site out there, www.WhatIfSports.com.
Without further ado, then, the teams!
2002 Oakland Raiders : After Jon Gruden constructed a team, Bill Callahan operated it with one caveat: Rich Gannon would be freed up to pass to his heart's content. And in the 2002 season, Gannon played out of his mind. That season, the Raiders were No. 1 in passing completions and yardage and No. 2 in overall offense. (In short, the anti-2006 Oakland Raiders .) It was all downhill after '02, though.
1976 Oakland Raiders : One of the greatest single-season teams in the Super Bowl era of the NFL and the club everyone loved to hate. At 13-1, the only blight on their record was a terrible 48-17 lashing at the hands of probably the best pre-Belichick New England Patriots team. Even this loss was well avenged by a playoff win. Indeed, these guys must have been cheating, what with Ken Stabler completing an amazing two-thirds of his passes that year.
1983 Los Angeles Raiders: These guys were flashy and story-laden, just like an L.A. version of football would be. (Anyone remember Heaven Can Wait?) This squad was a bit of an anomaly in the Raider legend, known mostly for a running game led by Marcus Allen, still the all-time Raiders rushing leader.
1967 Oakland Raiders : Known unfairly for being smoked in Super Bowl II by the last great Titletown Green Bay Packers team, this Raiders team was dominant in rare fashion. They opened the season with 51-0 and 35-7 victories and never looked back, with QB Daryle Lamonica leading his guys to a whopping 468-233 cumulative score.
Let the tournament begin!
Playoff game No. 1: 2002 Raiders at 1976 Raiders
Early on in the game, Madden's strategy in handling the Gannon passing machine was a surprisingly conservative combination of light pass rushing and heavy coverage downfield. The first quarter finished knotted at 7, Jerry Rice putting in the TD for the 2002s.
In the second quarter, the 76ers were hurt by their own mistakes. The very first play of the quarter saw a drive end with a Rod Coleman sack. The next time the oldsters got the ball, a nice 10-yard completion to Fred Biletnikoff was nullified by a holding penalty at the line; Stabler followed up with an interception by Eric Barton that put the 2002s just 18 yards out of the goal line. Completions to Rice and Tim Brown gave the 2002 Raiders their second TD and a 14-7 lead.
After Gannon threw his only interception of the day, Stabler engineered an excellent six-play, 58-yard drive to put the score at 14-13 with just over one minute left in the half. The extra-point attempt is botched, however, and to make matters worse, the loose coverage twice allows Gannon to scramble for first downs in the final minute on the way to a Sebastian Janikowski field goal and a 17-13 halftime lead.
Clarence Davis ripped off a 47-yarder to start the third quarter and about three minutes later, the 1976 team had a 20-17 lead. Another unfortunate Stabler interception gives the 2002s the opportunity to again retake the lead when they start from the 21.
Things looked grim for the 76ers in the fourth as well; combining run and pass, the modern guys made it 30-20 early in the quarter and stopped a long Madden drive at their 15 to have the oldsters settle for the field goal.
However, the Snake was not to be outdone in this shootout. Twice connecting with Biletnikoff on long strikes, Stabler's boys scored a TD and two-point conversion to tie it up with four minutes left. The 1976 defense came through, too, ultimately forcing three straight incomplete passes from Gannon to get the ball back with 1:21. Davis contributed a pair of nice gains, and Stabler found Casper to get it to the 35.
And as the gun sounded, Fred Steinfort's kick split the uprights. 1976 Raiders 34, 2002 Raiders 31.
Playoff game No. 2: 1983 Los Angeles Raiders at 1967 Oakland Raiders .
After the wild barn burner of the tournament's first game, the Pasadena crowd was destined for something of a letdown. And oh, did they get it.
This was not smashmouth, grind-it-out Raider football; this was simply ineffective, clueless offenses. Plunkett and Lamonica may have turned in career years in real life, but in this game neither could manage 140 yards passing. (Perhaps it was the effects of time travel.)
However, Lamonica's sole TD strike in the fourth quarter on a drive highlighted by Biletnikoff squeezing 43 yards out of a short completion over the middle was enough. The defense dug in further to stuff Allen as it had all day, and the dreaded words "Los Angeles" had been eliminated from all great Raider teams discussion.
1967 Raiders 7, 1983 Raiders 6.
All-time Raider championship: 1967 Raiders at 1976 Raiders.
Despite the number-crunching milieu of the tournament, the final represented old-fashioned Raider football: two squads from an era when the team was perpetually feared well into the playoffs. One wonders what words the two Biletnikoffs exchanged before the start of the game.
www.whatifsports.com/nfl/boxscore.asp?GameID=2719402&ad=1
Whatever it was, the older Biletnikoff's guys should have been let in on the secret. In a stunning and brilliant performance, Lamonica and the 1967s turned this one into a laugher early, demonstrating the kind of dominance they showed in the AFL of the 1960s.
By halftime it was 24-3, with Clem Daniels running rampant and Dan Conners twice sacking Stabler, who appeared in this game to have lost his magical capacity for finding holes through which to slither past defenders. In true Raider fashion, 1967 coach John Rauch ordered his team to show no mercy, while in the opposition dressing room, Madden turned several dozen shades of purple.
Simply put, in the second half things went worse for the 1976 squad; at some point in the fourth quarter, the coach undoubtedly made the fateful decision to quit this coaching stuff and maybe make a video game or something...
Final score: 1967 Raiders 55, 1976 Raiders 3.
Congratulations to the 1967 Raiders for their prestigious victory on this, the eve of the 40th anniversary of the team's existence. If only they don't get the Packers next...