Raiders' 52-49 Win Over Oilers Was Perhaps the Best
The Las Vegas-Oakland-Los Angeles Raiders have played some incredible games in their 63 years. Still, there is one in particular that stands out to longtime members of Raider Nation because of the score and the fact that the Silver and Black won and established a comeback tradition.
On Dec. 22, 1963, in the final regular-season game at Frank Youell Field, the Raiders were playing the Houston Oilers, who had won the first two American Football League Championship Games in 1960 and 1961, before losing to the Dallas Texans, 20-17, in the third title game.
And on this day, “Old Man” George Blanda of the Oilers passed for 342 yards and five touchdowns, wide receiver Willard Dewveall caught seven passes for 137 yards and two scores while running back Charley Tolar rushed for 65 yards and a touchdown, and ran 33 yards to set up another score.
However, these were not the Oakland Raiders of 1960-62, who compiled a composite 9-33 record.
Coach and General Manager Al Davis had come to Oakland in 1963 and turned the Raiders around, and they were 9-4 going into that game, including their first two victories ever over the arch-rival San Diego Chargers.
However, in an incredibly wide-open game, the Oilers took a 49-42 lead when the 36-year-old Blanda threw two touchdown passes late in the third quarter.
“Those other Raiders teams would have been finished at that point, but we had a team that wouldn’t quit,” said Raiders All-AFL running back Clem Daniels, who rushed for 142 yards in the game caught two passes for 76 yards, including a 56-yard touchdown.
“We went back and forth with the Oilers and proved to ourselves that we could stay with them. And then we beat them.”
Quarterback Tom Flores, who passed for 407 yards in the game, threw his sixth touchdown pass to wide receiver Art Powell covering 22 yards and tying the score, 49-49, midway through the fourth quarter and the crowd of only 17,401 at Frank Youell Field was going wild.
Flores drove them down the field again when the Raiders got the ball back.
“Powell caught four of the six touchdown passes I threw that day,” said Flores, who played college football right up the road at College of the Pacific in Stockton after growing up in Sanger, in California’s San Joaquin Valley.
“It was great for any quarterback to have a weapon like Art, who you could count on all the time, especially in the big moments. I really relied on him when we needed something.”
The Raiders needed it in the final minutes.
Flores hit Powell, who caught ten passes for 247 yards in the game, on two passes to help move the Silver and Black down the field, setting up Mike Mercer’s 39-yard field goal with 4:37 remaining in the game to give the Raiders a 52-49 lead.
The defense held, and the Raiders won the memorable game to finish the season at 10-4, including 6-1 at home, after being 1-13 the season before and 2-12 the year before.
However, Davis was frustrated because the Raiders finished second to the rival Chargers, the team from which he came to Oakland, in the AFC West.
“I’m not crying,” said Davis, who was building a franchise that would win three Super Bowls. “We’ve had a fantastic year. The only problem was, no one else could knock off the Chargers, so they’re the champs. But these Raiders are my champs. We beat the twice These guys have given more than a football team should be asked to give, and they deserve every bit of praise and honor that comes their way.”
Even though the Raiders did not win the division, Davis had started something special in Oakland.
The Raiders' offseason workout schedule is as follows:
OTA Offseason workouts: May 22-23, May 25, May 31-June 2, June 12-15
Mandatory Minicamp: June 6-8
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