The Oakland-Los Angeles-Las Vegas has pulled off some incredible comeback victories during their 63-year history, including one on Monday Night Football against future Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway and the Denver Broncos in the fourth week of the 1988 season.
Running back Tony Dorsett rushed for 119 yards in the game, and two early one-yard touchdown runs. In contrast, Elway, who passed for 220 yards, threw a seven-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Steve Sewell and an 86-yarder to wide receiver Van Johnson to set up one of Dorsett’s TDs, as the Broncos romped to a 24-0 halftime lead at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
Even many diehard members of Raiders Nation switched channels to watch the Summer Olympic Games in Seoul, South Korea, as the Broncos had 289 total yards to a meager 41 for the Silver and Black at halftime.
“When we came in at halftime, I wish I could say that I gave some Knute Rockne speech,” said first-year Raiders Coach Mike Shanahan, who previously had been an assistant coach with the Broncos. “I said I was embarrassed and there was a lot of pride at stake. We just have to play one play at a time, I told the team.”
The Raiders got the message.
Quarterback Jay Schroeder got the Raiders back into the game in the third quarter by throwing touchdown passes of 40 and 42 yards to running back Steve Smith, who caught six passes for 122 yards in the game.
After Chris Bahr kicked a 28-yard field goal and running back, Marcus Allen ran four yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to finish off a 24-point run; the Raiders had tied the score, 24-24.
Elway and the Broncos weren’t done, as they drove to a 25-yard field goal by Rich Karlis with about three minutes left in the game, but Schroeder took the Raiders down the field to set up a 44-yard field goal attempt by Bahr with eight seconds remaining in the game.
However, Bahr’s longest field goal of the season had come from only 29 yards, and he was zero-for-four on the season from 30-yard plus, but this one was true and sent the game to overtime.
Said Bahr: “It was do or die.”
The Raiders appeared to have won the game in overtime when rookie Tim Brown returned a punt return 74 yards for a touchdown, but an illegal block nullified the score.
However, not long after that, defensive tackle Bill Pickel pressured Elway and forced him to throw his fourth pass interception of the game to reserve safety, Zeph Lee. Five plays later, Bahr kicked a 35-yard field goal to win the game, 30-27, with 2:25 left in overtime.
“I hit the ball good,” said Bahr, as said earlier, had been struggling. “What the heck. It was nice to get some kicks. I needed a game like this.”
Said the great Elway: “I’ve never been involved in a loss like this. I’ve never blown a 24-point lead in my life. It’s worse than the Stanford-Cal game.”
Elway was referring to his last college game in which he threw a touchdown pass with four seconds left to give Stanford a 20-19 lead before Cal threw a series of laterals on the ensuing kickoff known as “The Play,” which resulted in a 55-yard winning touchdown with hundreds of fans and the Stanford Band on the field.
That’s one of the great finishes in football history, but the Raiders have had some of their own to compare, including the “Sea of Hands,” “The Roller,” “Ghost to the Post,” and “The Heidi Game.”
Said Schroeder: “We knew the Raiders’ history and understood that we still had a chance.”
As they say: “Just win, Baby!”
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