Raiders Have Had Their Moments vs. Chiefs
The Las Vegas Raiders play another one of their long-time rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, on Sunday at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.
Both teams were charter members of the American Football League in its inaugural season of 1960, with the Raiders being in Oakland and the Chiefs then known as the Dallas Texans. Since they have always been in the same division, they have played each other at least twice every season in the last 63 years, with Kansas City dominating the series overall, 72-54-2.
The Chiefs have won the last five games in a row and 15 of the last 18 meetings. The Raiders last beat the Chiefs, 40-32, in 1970 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City when Derek Carr passed for 347 yards and three touchdowns.
The Texans won the first game they ever played, 34-16, at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco, but the Raiders got even later in the season at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, when running back J.D. Smith returned a kickoff 98 yards for a touchdown, and fullback Alan Goldstein ran 16 yards for one score and caught an eight-yard pass from halfback Tony Teresa for another score in a thrilling, 20-19 victory.
Owner Lamar Hunt moved the Texans to Kansas City in 1962, changing the team’s nickname to the Chiefs and creating something of a dynasty behind Coach Hank Stram.
The Chiefs captured the 1966 AFL Championship with an 11-2-1 record and a 31-7 victory over the Buffalo Bills in the AFL title game at War Memorial Stadium in Buffalo as quarterback Len Dawson passed for 227 yards and two touchdowns while running back Mike Garrett ran for two more scores.
From there, Kansas City went on to Super Bowl I, then called the AFL-NFL Championship Game, and lost to the Green Bay Packers and legendary Coach Vince Lombardi, 35-10, as quarterback Bart Starr passed for 250 yards and two touchdowns.
In a letter to Commissioner Pete Rozelle, Hunt wrote: “I have kiddingly called it ‘The Super Bowl,’ but Rozelle obviously liked the name, and from 1969 that’s how the NFL’s greatest game has been known.
Despite trailing by a large margin in the series, the Raiders have their moments against the Chiefs.
The Silver and Black played one of their most memorable games in history in a 1968 AFL West divisional playoff game when they routed the Chiefs, 41-6, at the Oakland Coliseum. Quarterback Daryle Lamonica, the famed “Mad Bomber” passed for 347 yards and five touchdowns -- including two each to wide receivers Warren Wells and Fred Biletnikoff.
The Chiefs’ great middle linebacker, Willie Lanier, won the coin flip before that game and said the Chiefs would defend the South goal line, meaning the Raiders would receive the kickoff at the start of both halves. Kansas City obviously believed its powerful defense could shut down the Raiders.
“You what?” asked guard Gene Upshaw, the Raiders’ captain, who couldn’t believe his ears, and when Lanier repeated it, Upshaw told him: “You’ll regret this,” and Uppy yelled the same thing to Stram over on the Kansas City sideline.
When Upshaw got back to the Oakland sideline, he told his teammates: “Buckle up your chinstraps. We’ve just been insulted.”
And the insulted Raiders rolled to victory that day.
The Las Vegas Raiders and Kansas City Chiefs have been divisional opponents for more than 60 years.
© Rod Hanna | 1970 Nov 1
Especially in the early years, there was plenty of bad blood between the Raiders and Chiefs.
In 1970, the Chiefs were leading the Raiders, 17-14, late in the fourth quarter at Kansas City Municipal Stadium and appeared to be running out the clock. Dawson scrambled for a first down on a quarterback keeper and slid down, but Raiders defensive end Ben Davidson appeared to spear him while he was down, although in those days, you had to touch the quarterback, even if he slid, for the play to be ruled over.
That led Chiefs receiver Otis Taylor to go after Davidson, leading to a bench-clearing brawl that resulted in Davidson and Davidson being ejected. The off-setting penalties negated the first down, forcing the Chiefs to punt. The Raiders then put together a drive that resulted in George Blanda’s 48-yard field goal with eight seconds left, forcing a 17-17 tie, and Oakland claimed the AFC West title by one game over the Chiefs.
“Well, (Dawson) hadn’t been touched down,” Davidson said rather innocently after the game.
During the 1986 season in Kansas City, the Raiders scored the last 17 points to pull out a 24-17 victory in a game that featured two brawls that resulted in multiple ejections and suspensions.
You probably won’t see that on Sunday, but it’s the Raiders vs. Chiefs, so who knows?
The Silver and Black return home this week to celebrate Thanksgiving and take on their AFC West rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, on Sunday, November 26, at 4:25 p.m. EST/1:25 p.m. PST.
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