John Madden In Oakland...

[billyjack]

When the legendary John Madden passed away earlier this year, i planned on putting together a thread on his pro head coaching record.

This has kind of been in my top desk drawer for many months, but with a partial lull in the Big East as we await our conference openers (outside of St John's and DePaul), and with Christmas season reminding me of exciting old Raider playoff games, i thiught this might be a decent time to post this.

If anyone can fill in some blanks in his early years, or can correct any of my comments, that would be great.
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John Madden's 10 years with Oakland:
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1969 - lost AFL final v KC.
1970 - lost AFC final v Balt.
1971 - missed playoffs.
1972 - lost 1st-Rd v Pitts. (Franco).
1973 - lost AFC final v Miami.

1974 - lost AFC final v Pittsburgh.
1975 - lost AFC final v Pittsburgh.
1976 - won Super Bowl v Minn.
1977 - lost AFC final v Denver.
1978 - missed playoffs.
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so:
10 years:
- 1 Super Bowl win.
- 6 AFC finals losses.
- 1 AFC first round loss.
- 2 missed playoffs.

in 5 of the 6 AFC finals losses, their opponent won the Super Bowl.


in a little more detail:

1969 - Actually the last ever "AFL" Final.

1970 - lost AFC final v Baltimore

1971 - missed playoffs in final week.

1972 - lost 1st-Round at Pittsburgh. Stabler replaced Lamonica, and scrambled for 30-yard TD run to take a late lead 7-6 in the last minute. The Steelers then had a 4th and 10 play under 30 seconds, and won on Franco's Immaculate Reception.

1973 - lost AFC final at Miami.

1974:

- Raiders beat Dolphins in the 1st Round... Miami had won the previous 2 Super Bowls, and took the lead at Oakland with around 2 minutes left in the 4th. Stabler then drove downfield, and threw a desperation pass in the end zone, resulting in Oakland RB Clarence Davis making an impossible catch in a sea of hands... game now known as the "Sea of Hands" game.

- Raiders lost the AFC final at home v Pittsburgh the following weekend. Oakland had a 10-3 heading into the 4th, but the stacked Steelers took control in the 4th winning 24-13... was 17-13 Pitts til last minute breakaway run for a TD.

1975:

- Raiders won 1st Round game at home vs Cincinnati holding back a late Bengals comeback, 31-28.

- Raiders lost the AFC final at Pittsburgh in close game on an icy field, 16-10.

1976 -

- Raiders rallied down 21-10 won at home vs New England, with refs cheating in last minute, calling a roughing the QB after a 3rd down incompletion. If any Raider fan whines about the Tuck Rule, i pull out this specific game and flag, lol

- Raiders won at home vs Pittsburgh 24-7 but Steelers had some injuries... i think Swann and Franco, and someone on defense.

- won SB v Minn in blowout. 1st quarter, Minn blocked a Ray Guy punt, but fumbled at the 3, then Oakland totally overmatched the Vikings 32-14. Game clinched on a Willie Brown interception return. Of note is that this was the first Super Bowl i watched beginning to end...

my brother was a Raiders fan. Also of note is Vikings WR Sammy White almost had his head taken off by goons Jack Tatum and George Atkinson.

1977:

- Raiders won in 1st round at Baltimore in their OT "Ghost to the Post" win. A great back and forth game, played on Christmas Eve around 1pm. Colts' QB Bert Jones-- excellent forgotten QB, what an arm... Colts had late 3-point lead late... Stabler connected on key pass to Notre Dame's Dave Casper ("The Ghost") on a deep post route...

Oakland sent it into overtime on a short field goal by an ancient weak straightaway kicked named Errol Mann... the timeout leading into that kick had a famous conversation between Stabler and Madden. Game won in OT on another pass to Casper.

- Raiders lost the AFC final at Denver. This was the famous Rob Lytle fumble game. Denver was riding Bronco-mania and their Orange Crush defense to win the division. Broncos in 1st round comfortably won at home vs Pittsburgh on Christmas Eve.

The next weekend, the Broncos held a slight lead most of the game vs Oakland. As they looked to extend their lead in 2nd half, the Raiders recovered a fumble at the Oakland 2 by FB Rob Lytle... but the refs didnt call it a fumble somehow. Of note in this game was an extremely bright sun shining from the south end zone and blinding the players for much of the game, lol.

1978:

Oakland missed the playoffs... i remember 2 key things from this season... Oakland lost twice to the 3-year-old Seahawks, which caused the Raiders to miss the playoffs.

Also, more importantly of course, was the preseason horrific injury to the Patriots star WR Darryl Stingley, by Raiders headhunter CB Jack Tatum.

For me personally, at 10 years old, and a lot of kids my age, our local all star getting paralyzed was horrifying.

Also, the story around this tragedy is that John Madden basically was burnt out of coaching, and the general stress of competition, combined with this injury caused by his longtime player, led hum to retire at a very young age.

Anyway, that's a long-wnded breakdown of the 10-year head coaching run of the legendary John Madden in Oakland. His replacement, Tom Flores, became a legend himself.