The Las Vegas Raiders are an NFL franchise based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Raiders play in the AFC West division in the Nation Football League.
The Raiders were founded on January 30, 1960, in Oakland, California. The Raiders played their first regular-season game on September 11, 1960. The Raiders originally played in the American Football League (AFL) but then were part of the Nfl in the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. The Raiders have won 3 Super Bowls in 1976, 1980, 1983.
Super Bowls
The Raider’s first Super Bowl win was in 1976 when they played the Minnesota Vikings. The Raider’s record that year was 13-1, and the Vikings came in at 11-2-1. The game was scoreless in the first quarter but then the Raiders scored on 3 consecutive drives. The Raiders ended up winning the game and the Super Bowl. Fred Biletnikoff was named Super MVP.
The Raider’s next Super Bowl win was in 1980 when they played the Philadelphia Eagles. The Raiders came in with an 11-5 record, while the Eagles came in at 12-4. The Raiders jumped out to a 14-0 lead in the first quarter, and the Raiders won. Raider’s Quarterback Jim Plunkett won Super Bowl MVP.
The Raider’s latest Super Bowl win was in 1983 when they played the Washington Redskins. The Raiders came in at 12-4 and the Redskins came in at 14-2. The Redskins came in as the favorites to win but the Raiders demolished them 38-9. Heisman Trophy winner Marcus Allen won the Super Bowl MVP as he rushed for 191 yards and 2 touchdowns against the best-run defense in the NFL.
Los Angeles Era
The Raiders moved the Los Angeles in 1982. The Raiders won their latest championship in Los Angeles but other than that, they didn’t have much success in Los Angeles.
Back to Oakland
The Raiders moved back to Oakland in 1995 and didn’t find much success early. But then the Raiders hired Jon Gruden and the Raiders won the division title. But Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon got injured mid-game when he got sacked and was out for the rest of the game.
The Raiders made a move that involved releasing Gruden from his contract and allowing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to sign him. In return, the Raiders received $8 million and four future draft picks from the Buccaneers. Then the Raiders hired offensive coordinator Bill Callahan as head coach.
Under Callahan, the Raiders finished the 2002 season 11–5, won their third-straight division title and clinched the top seed in the playoffs. Rich Gannon was named MVP of the NFL after passing for a league-high 4,689 yards. After beating the Jets and Titans by large margins in the playoffs, the Raiders made their fifth Super Bowl appearance in Super Bowl XXXVII.
Their opponent was the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, coached by Gruden. The Raiders, who had not made significant changes to Gruden’s offensive schemes, were intercepted five times by the Buccaneers en route to a 48–21 blowout. Some Tampa Bay players claimed that Gruden had given them so much information on Oakland’s offense, they knew exactly what plays were being called.
Recent Years
In recent years the Raiders have really been struggling. They have gone through 17 different head coaches since 2000 (Most in NFL). They have also only made the playoffs once since 2002, which was in 2016 when they had 6 players elected to the Pro Bowl.
R.I.P John Madden
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