Sometimes, in the Raiders history, you'll see spots that defy logic. Choices made reflecting on the club but as well causes ripples that eventually come back to haunt the team.
For today's lesson, we'll start by looking at the 1985 Raiders squad. First to mention is Marcus Allen. In this season, he was on fire, rushing for over 1750 yards, 11 rushing touchdowns, and three TD catches—all around stellar play.
Next to mention is Todd Christensen, another pro bowler, who had 82 catches. Dokie Williams, Wide out, had 48 catches...but both had over 900 yards receiving.
The team, as a whole, had a 12-4 record...so, what went wrong?
The first weak link, anyone within the Raider Nation, was a guy named Marc Wilson. As a QB, he was drafted in the first round, 15th overall, in 1980.
Jim Plunkett, for his age, was supposed to be a stopgap. Instead, Plunkett seemed to make a habit of replacing him in an injury filled career.
Also, there was a disturbing trend that Marc couldn't shake. His TD to INT ratio was causing a lot of dismay. But most, simply hoped he wouldn't blow a game with an errant pass.
So, going into the playoffs for 1985, the Raiders were at home against a Patriots team. The Patriots, 11-5, came to LA and left with a win...a 27-20 victory that also started the cracks between Allen and Davis.
To this day, I do not know if Davis held onto Marc Wilson because he believed the QB could turn his season around, or if he simply was frustrated with the embarrassing loss in LA...only Davis knows.
So into the following year. The Raiders, seemed ready to go beyond last year, started out good. They had gotten to 8-4 when the wheels came off.
Losing two division games and dropping three close games in all...the Raiders had to watch the playoffs, instead of taking part. Allen also was dealing with a few issues.
He failed to break the 1000 yard mark but part of this was due to playing in only 13 games. Also, Jim Plunkett and Marc Wilson split starting duties, eight games each.
Plunkett had a better percentage than Wilson. But Plunkett was now 39 years old, as Wilson was only 29...the Raiders were starting to wonder if replacing Wilson would solve the problem...Plunkett couldn't play forever.
Finally, 1987 came along. This proved to be Tom Flores' final year. In a way, I think he must have been relieved with the stress and the last three years turning to chaos so fast.
For the Raiders, this last season also saw the end of Plunkett's career. Ironically, he never got to play a game in 1987, and the experience showed the Raiders sank to 5-10. But there were a few bright spots.
Allen had a new running mate in Bo Jackson. Vince Evans made his first appearance. And Marc Wilson, somehow, threw more touchdowns than picks in the season.
However, as said...with the damage, Tom Flores left Oakland. Davis, deciding to shake things up, brought in Mike Shanahan, at that time, a young and spirited coach to lead the Raiders.
Little did we know how this action would affect the silver and black.
To Be Continued...
comments (2) write a comment »
write a new comment
2 months ago
The one thing that I have become to like from the majority of fans within the RaiderNation is I think we all understand that the one person that has really hurt the Oakland Raiders is Al Davis. I think about just some of the coaches and players that he had a falling out with and it is sad. He enabled some arch rivals like the Chiefs and Broncos to get great coaches or players and the team and us the fans have suffered.
I see professionally run football organizations (New England, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, San Diego and to a degree Denver) and compare what they have versus The Raiders. A great front office and for the most part owners that are not in the lime light (that's why Dallas in on this list) and ones that hire great talent, from the GM to the scouting office. Take a look at what Bill is doing in Miami...
This isn't the 70's, or early 80's when Al could do what ever he wanted to and still field a competitive team. I wish Al would personally sit down and shut up and let the coaches and staff do their jobs...until that happens we will continue be a higher disfunctional football team.
2 months ago
Well, Al's problems also came to hurt the Raiders, when he didn't believe that Allen was truly hurt. Although, get this: from what Ken Herock, one of the Raiders Draft people said, they were looking at Hershel Walker, back when the USFL had it's dispersal Draft. Was Al simply seeking to get every fast player at the time, or did he simply not believe his players could keep performing at a high level?
Another thing, that was both a blessing and a curse, was the injury bug. Sometimes, it would drop Marc Wilson out of the starting slot, and Plunkett could do his job....but sometimes, even Plunkett couldn't make miracles happen....in Part two, you'll learn why I hate Shanahan, probably more than Davis's bungling.
write a new comment