Kenny Stabler Got Started for Raiders vs. Cardinals
The Las Vegas Raiders and Arizona Cardinals will both be trying to prevent starting the new season 0-2 when they meet for only the 11th time on Sunday at 1:25 p.m. PDT at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Both teams have moved around in their histories, with the Raiders starting out in Oakland in 1960 in the first season of the American Football League, later moving to Los Angeles and then back to Oakland before going to Las Vegas in 2020.
The Cardinals were founded as the Chicago Cardinals as a member of the National Football League in 1920, actually playing their games in Racine, Ill, for two seasons, before moving to St. Louis in 1960 and to Phoenix in 1994.
The Raiders hold a 6-4 lead in the series, which started in 1973 when quarterback Kenny “Snake” Stabler became the Silver and Black starter, on the strength of winning three of the first four games and five of the first seven, while the Cardinals have narrowed the gap by winning two of the last three.
The Silver and Black won the last meeting, 23-21, on Nov. 18, 2018, at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., leaving both teams with 2-8 records.
Quarterbacks Derek Carr of the Raiders and Josh Rosen of the Cardinals both threw two touchdown passes in that game, but it came down to Daniel Carlson, who kicked field goals of 49, 21, and 35 yards, the decider coming on the last play of the game.
For longtime fans of Raider Nation, the game against the Cardinals they remember most was the first one the teams ever played on Oct. 7, 1973, at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.
Stabler had waited impatiently behind starter Daryle Lamonica since the Raiders selected him out of Alabama in the second round (No. 52 overall) of the 1968 NFL Draft.
The Raiders were off to a 1-2 start in 1973 when Coach John Madden named Stabler to start the fourth game of the season in St. Louis. Snake, who always enjoyed a good time, and some of his teammates were fined for breaking curfew the night before, but Madden kept him in the starting lineup.
Stabler completed 19-of-31 passes for 207 yards without a touchdown and threw an interception, but he engineered a Raiders offense that amassed 454 yards of total offense in a 17-10 victory over the Cardinals.
Blanda kicked a 17-yard field goal, running back Charlie Smith rushed for a two-yard touchdown, and fullback Marv Hubbard scored from a yard out in the fourth quarter to give Oakland a 17-10 victory.
“I don’t care about stats, all that matters is that we won,” Stabler told reporters afterward. “ … The fine was no big deal, some of us went out and had a couple drinks last night, and made it back to the hotel a little late, but it had no effect on the game today.”
Of course, this is the guy who once said: “There’s nothing wrong with reading the game plan by the light of the jukebox.”
Stabler led the Raiders to an 8-2-1 record the rest of the 1973 regular season and a 33-14 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers in an AFC Divisional playoff game at the Oakland Coliseum, before the Miami Dolphins beat the Raiders, 27-10, in the AFC Championship Game at the Orange Bowl in Miami. Oakland’s only touchdown came on Stabler’s 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Mike Siani.
In that first season as a starter, Stabler passed for 1,997 yards, a league-best 62.7 completion percentage, with 14 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and was selected to the first of his four Pro Bowls.
But that was only the beginning.
Stabler led the Raiders to the playoffs in six consecutive seasons, including five AFC Championship Games, and after years of frustration, the Silver and Black routed the Minnesota Vikings, 32-14, in Super Bowl XI as Snake called an almost perfect game—many on checkoffs at the line of scrimmage.
In seven years as the Raiders’ starter, Stabler compiled a 69-26-1 record while passing for 2,481 yards and 150 yards, and was the franchise’s leading in those categories until being passed by Carr in the last couple of seasons.
“Kenny was the most accurate thrower,” said running back Pete Banaszak, who scored two touchdowns for the Raiders in Super Bowl XI. “If you wanted the ball between the four and the zero, he’d put it there. If you wanted it in the ear hole, Kenny could put it there.”
Stabler was the NFL’s Most Valuable Player and Offensive Player of the Year in 1974, was a two-time All-Pro, was selected to the NFL 1970s All-Decade Team, and was posthumously inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, in 2016.
And it all started that day in 1973 in St. Louis, of course after Snake enjoyed a night out on the town.
The Las Vegas Raiders (0-1) kick off at home in Allegiant Stadium on Sunday, facing the Arizona Cardinals (0-1) at 1:25 PM PDT.
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