Oakland Raiders: 30 Iconic Moments In Franchise History

Aug 14, 2015; Oakland, CA, USA; General view of the line of scrimmage as Oakland Raiders center Tony Bergstrom (70) prepares to snap the ball against the St. Louis Rams in a preseason NFL football game at O.co Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

24. December 18, 1982 – The Battle for LA

The Raiders and Rams were on opposite courses in 1982. With the Raiders sitting on a 5-1 record and eyeballing a postseason spot, the Rams checked in a 1-5 and had nothing much to play for – except for pride and bragging rights to Los Angeles. A confident Raiders team seemed ripe for the picking.

The Rams capitalized on two interceptions, a punt, and a very stagnant Raiders offense to quickly jump out to a 14-0 lead. The Raider offense though, looked to get itself back on track with a solid drive that got them into the end zone and cut the Rams’ lead to 14-7. But then Plunkett and the Raider offense struggled again and the Rams were able to build a 21-7 lead heading into halftime. For the half, Plunkett was just 7-13 for 104 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions.

But as they took the field for the second half, the Raiders rode a defense that suddenly got very stingy and made hard hit after hard hit, shellshocking the Rams. The staunch second half defense helped put the Raiders in a position to start what would be their fourth comeback win of the 1982 season.

And the offense got rolling just in the nick of time. As the third quarter came to an end, Marcus Allen had punched in a ball and the Raiders trailed just 21-14 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Raiders had to settle for a field goal early in the fourth to cut the lead to 21-17. But after a surprising onside kick caught the Rams off guard, the Raiders recovered and with seven and a half minutes remaining, Allen cashed in for a score and the Raiders took their first lead of the game 24-21.

But it didn’t stop there. After an interception of Vince Ferragamo led to another Raiders score – a missed PAT kept the score 30-21. But the Rams showed a bit of life late in the game, scoring again to cut the lead to 30-28. And after a three and out gave the Rams the ball back, Ferragamo led his team back down for a field goal and a 31-30 lead.

But with a minute and a half left in the game, the Raiders got the ball back and Jim Plunkett would not let this team lose. He drove the Raiders back down and with time winding down, the Raiders scored again to go back up 37-31 to seal the win.

It was an important win as it helped propel the Raiders to the playoffs and helped them to really stake their claim to the city of Los Angeles.

Next: September 12, 1976