Raiders-Dolphins Have a Remarkable History
Coach Josh McDaniels is endeavoring to rebuild the Las Vegas Raiders into a powerhouse reminiscent of the great Silver and Black teams of the past and is off to a promising start with a 2-0 record, although it’s only preseason and quarterback Derek Carr, Devante Adams and the rest of the stars have yet to play a down.
The Raiders will try to make it three straight on Saturday at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami against the Miami Dolphins, and these teams have quite a history.
The Dolphins were an American Football League expansion team in 1966 and in the first regular-season game in their history, they took the lead when Joe Auer returned the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown, but the Raiders rallied for a 23-14 victory at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
After struggling to a 15-39 record over their first four seasons, the Dolphins turned things around in 1970 by hiring Coach Don Shula, who would become the winningest coach in NFL history with 347 victories including the playoffs on his way to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The Dolphins would post a 10-4 record in their first season under Shula but would lose to the Raiders, 21-14, in an AFC Divisional playoff game at the Oakland Coliseum when quarterback Daryle Lamonica hit the wide receiver, Rod Sherman, with an 82-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
That was only the first of several memorable games between the teams.
Miami made it all the way to Super Bowl VI the following season before losing to the Dallas Cowboys, 24-3, but became something of a dynasty by winning Super Bowl VII over the Washington Redskins, 14-7, and downing the Minnesota Vikings, 24-7, in Super Bowl XVIII.
The Dolphins were loaded with future Hall of Famers, including quarterback Bob Griese, running back Larry Csonka, wide receiver Paul Warfield, guard Larry Little, center Jim Langer, defensive tackle Manny Fernandez, and linebacker Nick Buoniconti.
Shula led Miami to an NFL record 18 consecutive victories before they headed to the Bay Area to play the Raiders on Sept. 23, 1973, but the Oakland A’s were hosting the New York Mets in the World Series, so the Raiders-Dolphins game was moved from the Oakland Coliseum to Memorial Stadium at the University of California in nearby Berkeley.
The Raiders shut down Griese and the Dolphins' offense and controlled the ball on the ground with fullback Marv Hubbard and 46-year-old George Blanda kicking field goals of 12, 46, 19, and 10 yards that carried the Raiders to a 12-7 upset victory before 74,721 fans.
“I hate to talk about losing, but give Oakland and (Coach) John Madden all the credit in the world,” Shula said afterward. “Their defense controlled our offense, it didn’t make any mistakes and their offense didn’t get a touchdown, but it controlled the ball. Their offensive line and running backs played well. They established their running game, and they stopped us.”
The Dolphins got their revenge by beating the Raiders, 27-10, as Csonka ran for 266 yards and three touchdowns in the AFC Championship Game at the Orange Bowl later that season en route to winning that second straight Super Bowl over the Vikings.
However, the Raiders-Dolphins game longtime fans people remember most took place on Dec. 21, 1974, in another AFC Divisional playoff game at the Oakland Coliseum.
The Dolphins held a 26-21 lead in the final minute, but the Raiders were driving when quarterback Kenny (Snake) Stabler seemingly was being sacked by defensive end Vern Den Herder on first down.
However, Stabler somehow got off a pass toward running back Clarence Davis, who was surrounded by Dolphins defenders in the right corner of the end zone, but somehow caught the ball for an eight-yard touchdown with 26 seconds left as the Raiders dethroned the two-time Super Bowl champions, 28-26.
“I felt (Den Herder), but it was a dumb play,” Stabler said afterward, giving all the credit to Davis. “I never should have thrown the ball to Clarence. Or maybe I should have thrown it out of the end zone. Sometimes you get away with a dumb play and sometimes you don’t.
“It was a dumb plays because it was first down and we had plenty of time, 35 seconds left and two timeouts. Every play was going to go into the end zone anyway. So we had three more chances coming up and things were probably going to set up better than that play. I saw Clarence. He had come back. But there were an awful lot of people around him and it didn’t look like he was going to be able to catch the ball, but he did. It was a great catch, give Clarence the credit, but it was a dumb play by me.”
Davis, who had perhaps the worst hands of all the Raiders’ backs and receivers, made an incredible catch in what will forever be known as “The Sea of Hands Game.”
The Raiders beat the Dolphins, 31-28, last season on Daniel Carlson’s 22-yard field goal with three seconds left in overtime, and lead the all-time series against the Dolphins. 21-19-1, including 3-1 in the playoffs.
However, “The Sea of Hands” is the game Raider Nation will remember forever.
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