Monday Has Been Good Night for Las Vegas Raiders

Quarterback Derek Carr of the Las Vegas Raiders has channeled his inner Kenny Stabler often during his career, leading the Silver and Black to 20 comeback victories in the fourth quarter during his career, something “The Snake” made a habit of doing.

Carr is in a position to do it again.

The Raiders will host the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Stadium in the first-ever game at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, and one of Stabler’s greatest comebacks came against the Saints on a Monday night in December of 1979 before 71,323 fans at the Superdome in New Orleans.

Stabler threw an interception and lost a fumble as quarterback Archie Manning and the Saints built a 28-7 lead in the second quarter, and it got worse when Stabler’s tipped pass was intercepted by linebacker Ken Bordelon and returned 19 yards for a touchdown to make it 35-24 with 6:24 left in the third quarter.

Backup quarterback Jim Plunkett began warming up on the sidelines, but when Stabler reached the sideline, he told Coach Tom Flores: “I got us in this mess and it’s my job to get us out.”

That he did.

Stabler threw three touchdown passes the rest of the way, including two to Cliff Branch, a 66-yarder, and a two-yarder with 1:54 left in the game to give the Raiders a victory longtime members of Raider Nation remember well 42-35.

“We’ve been in these so-called impossible situations in the past,” said Stabler, who led the Raiders to 16 fourth-quarter comeback victories in his career. “We have a lot of experience at it.”

That was the Raiders’ eighth consecutive victory on Monday night and gave them a 13-1-1 record on MNF, best in the National Football League at the time.

The Silver and Black have a 40-29-1 record on Monday night, dating to its first appearance in the series, a 34-20 victory over the Washington Redskins at the Oakland Coliseum thanks to three touchdown passes by Daryle Lamonica.

The Raiders are one of four teams with 40 victories on MNF and two members of the Silver and Black hold Monday night records—Bo Jackson with 221 yards rushing against the Seattle Seahawks at the Kingdome in 1987 and Eddie Anderson with a 102-yard interception return for a touchdown against the Miami Dolphins at the Orange Bowl in 1992.

In a memorable performance, Jackson ran over linebacker Brian Bosworth on one of his three touchdowns and ran up the tunnel after completing an explosive 91-yard scoring run in a 37-14 victory.

Carr, who grew up in Bakersfield in Central California, knows all about the Raiders’ Monday night history, especially when it comes to Stabler.

“I don’t know if anyone loves (Stabler) as much as my Dad, to be honest with you,” Carr told reporters last season after he broke the Raiders’ career passing record previously held by The Snake. “ … He’s the gold standard for Raider quarterbacks and he’s someone that as I grew up, that’s all I heard about in stories from my Dad. He was the first football player I ever knew about.”

In another memorable Monday night game involving the Raiders in December of 2002, Hall of Fame wide receiver Tim Brown became the third wide receiver in NFL history to record 1,000 catches in his career.

Brown caught eight passes for 90 yards from Rich Gannon in a 26-20 victory over the New York Jets. One play after Brown’s memorable catch, Gannon threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to former San Francisco 49er Jerry Rice, who also had more than 1,000 catches.

“That’s Jerry Rice, every time he catches a ball he’s stealing your thunder,” Brown joked.

The Raiders and their AFC West rivals, the Denver Broncos, have met 19 times on Monday Night Football, the most of any teams.

The Raiders’ last MNF game against the Broncos came in the opener last season in Oakland, where rookie Josh Jacobs ran for two touchdowns and Carr completed 22 of 26 passes for 259 yards in a 24-16 victory.

Carr, Jacobs and the rest of the Raiders hope to add to their Monday night legacy against the Saints.

TV: ESPN 8 PM ET/5 PM PT

Radio: Raider Nation Radio

Odds: Saints -5.5

Tell us what you think in the comment section below and please make sure you like our Facebook Page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.

Want the latest breaking Las Vegas Raiders news delivered straight to your email for FREE? Sign up for the DAILY Raiders Nation newsletter when you CLICK THE FOLLOW button on the main page. Don't miss any of the latest up to the second updates for your Las Vegas Raiders when you follow on Twitter @HondoCarpenter

Add us as a preferred source on Google