Raiders Played Vikings Once When It Really Counted
Coach Josh McDaniels and the Las Vegas Raiders have moved on quickly from their 27-11 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Pro Football Hall of Fame Game last Thursday night in Canton, Ohio, to open the preseason.
That’s as it should be and now the Silver and Black are preparing for their next preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on Sunday at 1:25 p.m. (PDT) without any pregame drama.
However, longtime members of Raider Nation remember that a game against the Vikings remains one of the great moments in team history.
The Vikings were favored over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl XI at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena on Jan. 9, 1977, to cap a 1976 season, even though future Hall of Fame Coach John Madden led his team into the game with a 13-1 record in the regular season and victories over the New England Patriots and the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC playoffs.
Minnesota had Super Bowl veterans such as quarterback Fran Tarkenton, defensive tackle Alan Page, defensive end Carl Eller, running back Chuck Foreman, wide receiver Ahmad Rashad, center Mick Tingelhoff, defensive end Jim Marshall, safety Paul Krause, and linebacker Jeff Siemon.
The Vikings had lost Super Bowl IV to the Kansas City Chiefs, 23-10, Super Bowl XVIII to the Miami Dolphins, and Super Bowl XI to the Steelers, 16-6, and many people believed it was time for the Purple People Eaters to win pro football’s greatest game.
The Raiders had other ideas, well before the game started.
“We knew by Wednesday we were going to win,” said linebacker Phil Villapiano, who made a big play early in the game. “The only hard part from then on was waiting for the game.”
Added Raiders Executive Assistant Al LoCasale told Madden on the bus back to the Raiders hotel on the same day: “Unless our team bus turns over going up the canyon to the Rose Bowl Sunday, this one won’t even be close.”
After Raiders punter Ray Guy had a punt blocked for the first time in his career, the Vikings took over at the Oakland three-yard-line. But after Foreman was stopped by defensive tackle Charles Philyaw on first down, Villapiano hit running back Brent McClanahan on second down and forced him to fumble, with linebacker Willie Hall recovering for the Raiders.
Running back Clarence Davis ran 35 yards on the next play and the Raiders drove down the field for a 24-yard field goal by Errol Mann to take the lead for good.
Quarterback Kenny “Snake” Stabler, who engineered a nearly-perfect game, could see Madden was not happy with having to settle for a field goal and told his coach: “Don’t worry, John, there’s plenty more where that came from.”
And there was.
Davis, with fullback and Raiders leading rusher Mark van Eeghen turning onto the lead blocker, led the Silver and Black in rushing with 136 yards with Van Eeghen adding 73 yards, while Pete Banaszak gained only 19 yards but scored two short-yardage touchdowns.
Stabler completed a modest 12-of-19 passes for 180 yards and a one-yard touchdown to tight end Dave Casper, who caught four passes for 79 yards, while wide receiver Fred Biletnikoff caught four balls for 70 yards, three of them to inside the two-yard-line to set up touchdowns.
Hall of Fame cornerback Willie Brown provided the finishing touch with a 75-yard touchdown after intercepting a pass by Tarkenton in the final minutes of a 32-14 victory.
"Super Bowl XI was ours and 10 years from now or 20 years from now Super Bowl XI will still be ours,” Madden said. “I’ll never take off the Super Bowl ring. It’s something I will always cherish.”
Said Tarkenton: “They just kicked our butts.”
In the ensuing years, the Raiders captured Super Bowls XV and XVIII, while the Vikings have yet to return to pro football’s greatest game for nearly four decades and are tied for the worst record in the game with the Buffalo Bills at 0-4.
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