Season
The Road to their first World Championship began on opening day as they faced the reigning world champion Pittsburgh Steelers. In their home opener, Oakland trailed 28–14 with just over five minutes to play, yet orchestrated what many to this day refer to as their Comeback Classic of 1976. They won 31–28 on a 21-yard Fred Steinfort field goal with 18 seconds left.
What followed was a mammoth 5-game road trip, featuring wins over each of the Raiders' three divisional foes. It also included Oakland's lone loss on the year, a 48–17 shocker in New England. However, this would just be a preview of things to come between the Raiders and the Patriots.
Oakland became virtually unbeatable after the defeat. Upon returning home, the Raiders cruised to big victories, like a 49–16 stomping of the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers and had nail biters like the 28–27 victory against a competitive Chicago Bear team at Soldier Field. They closed out the season with a 24–0 shutout of the San Diego Chargers in Oakland.
The Raiders would end the 1976 season with a 64.3% pass completion. Ken Stabler would complete 66.7% of his passes. Mark van Eeghan would reach the 1000 yard mark with 1012 yards. Dave Casper would lead the team in receptions with 53 while Cliff Branch would lead the team in reception yards (1111), touch downs (12), and yards per reception for receivers who caught more than one pass (24.2).
Read more about this topic: 1976 Oakland Raiders Season
Famous quotes containing the word season:
“Utterly frozen is this youthful lady,
Even as the snow that lies within the shade;
For she is no more moved than is the stone
By the sweet season which makes warm the hills”
—Dante Alighieri (1265–1321)
“Hence in a season of calm weather
Though inland far we be,
Our Souls have sight of that immortal sea
Which brought us hither,”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“Let us have a good many maples and hickories and scarlet oaks, then, I say. Blaze away! Shall that dirty roll of bunting in the gun-house be all the colors a village can display? A village is not complete, unless it have these trees to mark the season in it. They are important, like the town clock. A village that has them not will not be found to work well. It has a screw loose, an essential part is wanting.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)