Raiders vs. Bills Goes Back 64 Seasons

The Buffalo Bills and the then-Oakland, now the Las Vegas Raiders, had played each other since 1960 when both teams were charter members of the American Football League during its inaugural season.

The Raiders, 21-19 during the regular season against the Bills over the years, including 4-2 in the last six games but 0-2 in the post-season, play Buffalo again on Sunday at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y.

The teams do not play each other every season since they are in different divisions: the Raiders in the AFC West and the Bills in the AFC East.

This reporter was there to see the Raiders play the Bills for the first time in the Bay Area at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco on Nov. 13, 1960, as my father, W.O. “Frenchy,” took me to see this new team with Oakland attached to its name, even though it would not play in its home city until Frank Youell Field was built in 1962.

I was 14 at the time, and ironically, my Dad was 14 when he came out from North Dakota for his freshman year at St. Mary’s College-High School in Oakland. One Saturday, he took a streetcar down Broadway in Oakland to San Francisco Bay. He boarded a ferry boat to S.F. before getting on a bus to Kezar in Golden Gate Park to see the St. Mary’s Gaels play the University of San Francisco Dons.

Dad drove the family car over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and out to Kezar when we went.

The Raiders, who posted a record of 6-8 in that first season under Coach Eddie Erdelatz, beat the Bills, 20-7, that day behind quarterbacks Tom Flores and Babe Parilli, as running back Tony Theresa rushed for 141 yards, including an 83-yard touchdown.

The sad thing was that there probably were only about 10,000 fans in the stands at Kezar to witness it.

Even though the Raiders won that game, the Bills dominated the first several years of the series, posting a 9-4 record against Oakland through 1966.

Buffalo, with such stars as quarterback Jack Kemp, running back Cookie Gilchrist, and wide receiver Elbert Dubenion, was one of the early power teams in the AFL, winning the league championship in 1964 with a 20-7 victory over the San Diego Chargers in the title game and repeating the next season with a 23-0 thrashing of the Chargers.

However, that was one year before the first Super Bowl. In the 1966 season, quarterback Len Dawson led the Kansas City Chiefs to a 31-7 victory over the Bills in the AFL Championship before the Green Bay Packers beat K.C., 35-10, in Super Bowl I at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

One year later, the Raiders became one of the better teams in football after acquiring backup quarterback Daryle Lamonica from the Bills, going 13-1 before beating the Houston Oilers, 40-7, in the AFC Championship Game and then losing to the Packers, 32-14, in Super Bowl II.

The Raiders also turned around their series with Buffalo, winning the next six games and nine of the next 12.

The Silver and Black also won six of eight games against the Bills between 1992 and 2005, which helped them get to where they are now in the series. And Buffalo still hasn’t won a Super Bowl, while the Raiders have captured three. Buffalo played in the Super Bowl four straight years, from 1990-93, and lost each time.

Both the Raiders and Bills are hoping for a victory on Sunday that will give them the series lead at 22-21, but it also might provide some momentum to help them return to the NFL post-season.

The Silver and Black remain on the road this week as they travel to play the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Sept. 17, at 1:05 p.m. EDT/10:05 a.m. PDT.

Please tell us your thoughts when you like our Facebook Page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.