Anatomy of an NFL rivalry: Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos

Photo by Patrick A. Patterson TFDSsports.com

The Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos share a storied rivalry in the NFL. When the Raiders and Broncos meet up, its time to throw out the records and call in the M*A*S*H units. When the Raiders and Broncos meet up it is always laid on the line.

The Raiders and Broncos are both charter members of the old AFL coming into existence in 1960. During the ensuing years the Raiders and Broncos have met 95 times with the Raiders leading the all time series 54 to 39 with two ties. Since Mike Shanahan took over as the head coach of the Denver Broncos following his unceremonious firing in Oakland, the Broncos have been on a prolonged hot streak against the Raiders.

The Early Years
In the first few years of their existence, the Raiders were a sorry team. Once Al Davis came on board things turned around fast, and with that came a long time domination of the Broncos. The Raiders dominated the division for the first half of the '70s, failing to win the division only once from 1970 through '76. The Broncos took the crown in '77 and '78. Following the 1977 season these two rivals met in the AFC championship game which the Broncos won after a controversial call. Rob Lytle was running with the ball on a short-yardage play, and Jack Tatum knocked the ball out of his hands for a fumble that the Raiders returned for a touchdown. The only problem -- the officials ruled that it was not a fumble. The league later issued an apology to the Raiders which didn't reinstate their chance to repeat. The Broncos got the win and went on to lose their first Super Bowl.

Vying for the Top Spot
The Oakland Raiders and Denver Broncos have combined for 23 of the 37 AFC west titles won since 1970. The Raiders have 13 AFC West crowns to the Broncos 10. This has only served to increase the intensity of these games as they were often battling it out for the best in the west. (By comparison: San Diego has 8 and Kansas City has 5. The remaining two were won by Seattle during their inglorious stay in the AFC West.) When the title is on the line, the games get more heated. 

Shanahan v Davis
After legendary coach Tom Flores moved into the Raiders front office, Al Davis wanted to take the team in a new direction, so he hired Denver Broncos' assistant coach Mike Shanahan. He had a brief tenure with the Raiders, which ended four games into his second season when Davis fired him. To this day, Shanahan claims that Davis still owes him $200,000 for that season -- a claim that Davis denies.  In 1995 Shanahan was named head coach of the Broncos and he has taken his aggressions out on the Raiders ever since. He has racked up a 20-6 record against his former employer.

One of the recent key moments in this rivalry was in 1997. The Denver Broncos came to Oakland as the last of the undefeated teams. The Raiders were struggling that year, but managed to make sure that the Broncos did not leave Oakland undefeated. Napolean Kaufman racked up a Raider record 226 yards on the ground, as the Raiders had rendered Terrell Davis ineffective. The Broncos went on to win the Super Bowl that year for the first time in their history, and the Raiders limped to their worst record since 1963 (to that point) at 4-12, but they were still able to pull out that win.

Despite Lane Kiffin's comments about supposedly not understanding the rivalry talk, this game will be a blood feud. Here is Samuel L. Jackson's take on it from 2003: