Super Bowl II is a long forgotten contest played by two iconic, old school football teams in the Green Bay Packers and Oakland Raiders. Everyone expected the Packers to win and they did, methodically and convincingly with long drives, chipping away with field goals and the occasional TD.
We all know about the Packers offense and Bart Starr. For their part, this is a pretty good offensive starting lineup for the Raiders:
SE Bill Miller
LT Bob Svihus
LG Gene Upshaw
C Jim Otto
RG Wayne Hawkins
RT Harry Schuh
TE Billy Cannon
FL Fred Biletnikoff
QB Daryle Lamonica
HB Pete Banaszak
FB Hewritt Dixon
Though the Raiders limped into Super Bowl II. The entire team was really banged up after a very physically exhausting 13-1 regular season. Their one loss came against the Jets. The high margin of victory (40-7) in the AFL championship game against the Houston Oilers does not reflect the fatigue the team experienced. Getting to this Super Bowl took just about everything they had.
Both the Raiders and Pack had three weeks rest before the game. The Raiders main loss to injury was running back Clem Daniels. With Daniels in top form, the Raiders running game has tremendous speed to compliment their power with guys like Banaszak and Dixon. An overall healthier Raiders team may have given the Pack a better game.
Super Bowl II was not Daryle Lamonica's best day as he threw an unfortunate interception returned for a TD which sealed the game. The Pack's defense played extraordinary all game in fact. Other highlights include Ben Davidson knocking Bart Starr out of the game. Though by that point the Raiders were down 19 points at the time (26-7). This game was never really in doubt. The final score was 33-14 Pack. It was Vince Lombardi's final game as head coach.
John Madden was a Raiders assistant coaches in Super Bowl II. Bill Walsh would have been but he left the Oakland Raiders coaching staff prior to the 1967 season to be head coach and general manager of a semipro franchise, the San Jose Apaches.
Al Davis was just a few weeks removed from his stint as AFL commissioner and was still solidifying his executive authority with the Raiders. Despite the Raiders success in getting to the Super Bowl and head coach John Rauch being AFL Coach of the Year, relations between he and Rauch were never strong and in fact, deteriorated. Al was establishing his executive command and set his sights on getting rid of Rauch the following season in 1968.
As it happened, the Raiders went 12-2 and lost to the New York Jets in the AFL Championship game. The Jets went on to beat the Baltimore Colts in historic Super Bowl III.
The Jets were a fierce AFL rival so the sting of finishing the 1968 season on a sour note was tough for Al to take. No matter how many times the Raiders beat the Jets from that point forward it does not remove the crushing blow of that particular loss in the AFL 1968 Championship game. It's no coincidence the Jets and Raiders are scheduled every year, to keep the rivalry alive.
The Raiders always felt they should have been the AFL representatives in Super Bowl III. They wanted another shot after getting beaten by the Pack the previous year. Al Davis couldn't let it go. Head coach John Rauch was gone after the 1968 season, replacing him with John Madden. Rauch ended up in Buffalo and would never again come close to the type of success he had with the Raiders.
It would take the Raiders eight more seasons to get back to the Super Bowl.
As it happened, the Raiders went 12-2 and lost to the New York Jets in the AFL Championship game. The Jets went on to beat the Baltimore Colts in historic Super Bowl III.
The Jets were a fierce AFL rival so the sting of finishing the 1968 season on a sour note was tough for Al to take. No matter how many times the Raiders beat the Jets from that point forward it does not remove the crushing blow of that particular loss in the AFL 1968 Championship game. It's no coincidence the Jets and Raiders are scheduled every year, to keep the rivalry alive.
The Raiders always felt they should have been the AFL representatives in Super Bowl III. They wanted another shot after getting beaten by the Pack the previous year. Al Davis couldn't let it go. Head coach John Rauch was gone after the 1968 season, replacing him with John Madden. Rauch ended up in Buffalo and would never again come close to the type of success he had with the Raiders.
It would take the Raiders eight more seasons to get back to the Super Bowl.
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3 comments Last one added 9 months ago — Leave a Comment
MJ Kasprzak 9 months ago
Nice to hear this from the view of a Raiders fan, but no, y'all never had a chance. The NFL was simply better until the merger--even the Colts would never have lost to the Jets if they had taken them seriously. But y'all competed against arguably the best team ever, and that's commendable. Back then, Davis knew football. Now he's just a fool who has not had enough people tell him he's wrong--if you are really his wingman, you will do what's best for him and pass that on, even though you'll be fired for it. There are some similarities between Al and Karl Rove that way.
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EndZoner 9 months ago
good article, AW. one little thing. That was Lombardi's last game coaching the Packers. He was HC for the Redskins in 1969 before he died.
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Al's Wingman 9 months ago
I totally forgot that he coached the skins. i know he was involved with the league for a bit as well after his coaching career.
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