Raiders-Titans/Oilers Have a Memorable History
The Las Vegas Raiders will try to get their season turned in the right direction on Sunday when they travel to Nashville, Tenn., to go against another franchise they have been dealing with for the 63 years of their existence.
Not everybody realizes it, but the Titans started out as the Houston Oilers and were one of the eight original teams along with the Oakland Raiders when the American Football League was founded in 1960.
In fact, the first regular season game they ever played was against each other, when future Raiders Hall of Famer George Blanda passed for 279 yards and four touchdowns while leading the Oilers to a 37-22 victory over the Silver and Black at Kezar Stadium in San Francisco on Sept. 11, 1960.
Quarterback Tom Flores, another future Hall of Famer, passed for 232 yards and two touchdowns for the Raiders that day, and two weeks later Flores threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to tight end Gene Prebola with 4:58 left in the game to give Oakland a 14-13 upset victory.
“We were pretty excited to win that game against the Oilers, who had Blanda at quarterback, and they went on to win the first AFL Championship that season,” Flores recalled of the Raiders’ first victory in franchise history.
While the Raiders posted a 6-8 record that season, the Oilers went on to record a 12-4 record and defeated the Los Angeles Chargers, 24-16, in the first AFL Championship Game, when Blanda threw for 313 yards and three touchdowns at Jeppesen Stadium in Houston.
The Oilers won five of the first six games in the series behind Blanda, but in 1963 Al Davis came to Oakland as a coach and general manager and led the Raiders to a 10-4 turnaround season, including victories over Houston of 24-13 at Jeppesen Stadium in the opener and 52-49 in the season finale at Frank Youell Field in Oakland.
Flores passes for 407 yards and six touchdowns in the last game, including his fourth to wide receiver Art Powell from 22 yards to tie the score in the fourth quarter, before Mike Mercer kicked a 39-yard field goal in the final minutes to win the game.
The Raiders have played the Oilers/Titans 51 times over the years, twice every season in the AFL from 1960-69, but not as much since because they are in different divisions, with the Raiders holding a 30-21 edge that includes a 4-0 mark in the post-season.
Quarterback Daryle Lamonica passed for two touchdowns and ran for another, and Blanda—now with the Raiders—kicked four field goals as Oakland routed the Oilers, 40-7, in the 1967 AFL Championship Game at the Oakland Coliseum before they lost to the Green Bay Packers, 32-14, in Super Bowl II at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
The Raiders hammered the Oilers again, 56-7, at Oakland as Lamonica threw for 267 yards and six touchdowns in a 1969 AFL Divisional Playoff Game, but they lost the final AFL Championship Game to the Kansas City Chiefs, 17-7, a week later after Lamonica injured his throwing hand early in the game.
Another memorable game came when Raiders legendary quarterback Kenny “Snake” Stabler returned with the Oilers for a 1980 AFC Wild Card playoff game after being traded. The Silver and Black intercepted two of his passes and sacked him seven times—including two each by blitzing defensive backs Mike Haynes and Lester Hayes, who also had a 20-yard interception return for a touchdown a 27-7 rout.
“We didn’t blitz too much like that when I was here and that surprised me,” said Stabler, who did pass for 243 yards. “They just kicked our butts.”
Quarterback Jim Plunkett threw two touchdown passes in that game and led the Raiders to four straight playoff victories as they became the first Wild Card team to become world champion when they trounced the Philadelphia Eagles, 27-10, Super Bowl XV.
The Oilers moved to Tennessee and became the Titans in 1997, and the only time they met in the playoffs since came in the 2002 AFC Championship Game at the Oakland Coliseum, when Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon passed for 286 yards and a touchdown in addition to running for another score in a 41-24 victory.
Unfortunately, the Raiders were routed by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 48-21, in Super Bowl XXXVI.
The Titans, who were still called the Oilers in their first season in Tennessee, have played the Raiders 15 times since moving from Houston and the Silver and Black hold an 8-7 lead in those games.
However, the last time the teams played, the Titans handled the Raiders, 42-21, at the Oakland Coliseum in 2019 when running back Derrick Henry rushed for 103 yards and two touchdowns for the Titans.
The Raiders will have to slow down Henry if they want to reverse that outcome on Sunday.
The Raiders (0-2) will kick off next Sunday at 10 a.m. PDT in Nashville, Tenn., against the Titans. You can watch the game on FOX.
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