Former Jets linebacker Larry Grantham believed that the Raiders ' defense often took every opportunity to cheap shot Namath.

The main strength of the Raiders was their defense, nicknamed " The 11 Angry Men ".

The Raiders defensive backs were fooled by the fake handoff, allowing Dowler to slip by the man covering him, catch the pass, and outrun the defense to score on a 62-yard touchdown completion, increasing the lead to 13 – 0.

The score seemed to fire up the Raiders ' defense, and they forced the Packers to punt on their next drive.

Led by quarterback Terry Bradshaw and the Steel Curtain defense, the Steelers advanced to their first Super Bowl after posting a 10-3-1 record season record and playoff victories over the Buffalo Bills and the Oakland Raiders.

Pittsburgh, who dominated teams with their " Steel Curtain " defense and running game, finished the regular season with a league best 12 – 2 record and defeated the Baltimore Colts and the Oakland Raiders in the playoffs.

Injuries early in the season forced the Raiders to switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense.

Many accused the Raiders defense of being overly aggressive, especially Atkinson, who inflicted a severe concussion on Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Lynn Swann in the previous season's AFC Championship Game.

The Eagles defense was a major factor in their hard fought 10-7 victory over the Raiders in the regular season ; they sacked Plunkett 8 times.

The Raiders were the first team to use the 3-4 in the Super Bowl in Super Bowl XI against the Minnesota Vikings, although the Miami Dolphins used a version of the 3-4 (" 53 defense ") in Super Bowl VI, Super Bowl VII and Super Bowl VIII.

The Raiders defense limited Seahawks running back Curt Warner, who had led the AFC in rushing yards ( 1, 449 yards ), to just 26 yards on 11 carries.

During the first half the Raiders scored on offense, defense and special teams, becoming the first team to score two non-offensive touchdowns in a Super Bowl.

The defense was prepared for the play, as Theismann had successfully completed an identical screen pass to Joe Washington for a 67-yard gain in their 37-35 victory over the Raiders on October 2.

The Bills ' defense dominated the Raiders ' offense, which was without running back Bo Jackson, who suffered a career-ending injury against the Cincinnati Bengals the week before, limiting them to an early field goal and intercepting five passes from quarterback Jay Schroeder.

It was the first time in Super Bowl history that the league's # 1 ranked offense ( Raiders ) was pitted against the league's # 1 ranked defense ( Buccaneers ).

The Raiders ' weakness was primarily on their defense, which ranked 25th in the league in passing yards allowed ( 3, 787 ) and 12th in total yards ( 5, 240 ).

However on the next 3 plays, the Raiders defense limited the Buccaneers to a pair of incompletions and a 1-yard run.

The Raiders ' touchdown seemed to fire up their defense, who forced the Buccaneers to a fourth down on their ensuing possession.

Sapp and the Raider defense were one of very few bright spots for the 2006 Raiders.

In 1986 Long was voted to his fourth consecutive Pro Bowl and was key in helping the Raiders record 63 sacks and being the number one defense in the AFC.

From 1983-86 the Raiders defense recorded 249 sacks, which tied with the Chicago Bears for tops in the NFL over that span.

Although the Raiders ' defense was one of the best in the league, its anemic offense, along with a season long feud with wide receiver Jerry Porter led to the team's downfall.

He was used in the Raiders nickel defense and recorded 5 sacks in that role.

At season's end the Raiders defense was among the NFL's top units, despite injuries to a few key defensive linemen.

The team went back to wearing this uniform at home on Thanksgiving Day in 2009 while their opponent was the Oakland Raiders who wore their AFL Legacy Weekend throwbacks.

The Colts 1977 playoff loss in double overtime against the Oakland Raiders was famous for the fact that it was the last playoff game for the Colts in Baltimore and is also known for the Ghost to the Post play.

On March 2, 2005, Vikings wide receiver Randy Moss was traded to the Oakland Raiders for linebacker Napoleon Harris and the Raiders ' first round draft pick.

Al Davis had an enlarged photo of Joe Namath at Oakland's headquarters that depicted the quarterback sprawled out on the ground following a vicious hit from Raider defender Ben Davidson ; the photographed play was said to have broken the quarterback's jaw ( though Namath stated he had broken it on a tough piece of steak, and some claim it was Raiders defensive end Ike Lassiter who injured Namath ).

There was a brief period between 2000 and 2003 when the rivalry was renewed due to regular season games each year and playoff meetings that saw the Raiders remove the Jets from contention.

The terms of the settlement are confidential, but it was reported that under its terms Davis purchased the McGah family's interest in the Raiders ( approximately 31 percent ), which gave him for the first time a majority interest, speculated to be approximately 67 percent of the team.

He was unsuccessful in this effort, reportedly because the sale would not give the purchaser any control of the Raiders, even in the event of Davis's death.

One of the reasons cited for the poor attendance figures was the decision to issue costly Personal Seat Licenses ( PSLs ) upon the Raiders ' return to Oakland in 1995.

Ted Hendricks was a member of four Super Bowl-winning teams ( three with the Raiders and one with the Colts ) and was a Pro Bowl selection eight times.

After the Oakland Raiders football team moved to Los Angeles in 1982, many improvements were made to what was suddenly a baseball-only facility.

Then, in 1995, a deal was struck whereby the Raiders would move back to Oakland for the 1995 season.

The bucolic view of the Oakland foothills that baseball spectators enjoyed was replaced with a jarring view of an outfield grandstand contemptuously referred to as " Mount Davis " after Raiders ' owner Al Davis.

It was a game-winning play executed by the Oakland Raiders against the Chargers on September 10, in San Diego at Jack Murphy Stadium.

Raiders tight end Dave Casper was the next player to reach the ball but he also could not get a hand on it.

What many Charger fans believed should have been called an incomplete pass ( and possibly intentional grounding ) was seen as a fumble and the rest of the play involved batting of the ball forward towards the end zone where the Raiders ultimately recovered it for a touchdown.

This was seemingly confirmed by the results of the first two interleague championship games, in January 1967 and 1968, in which the NFL champion Green Bay Packers, coached by the legendary Vince Lombardi, easily defeated the AFL's Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders.

The Raiders, led by head coach John Rauch, had stormed to the top of the AFL with a 13 – 1 regular season record ( their only defeat was an October 7 loss to the New York Jets, 27 – 14 ), and went on to crush the Houston Oilers, 40 – 7, in the AFL Championship game.

But all the Raiders ' second touchdown did was make the final score look remotely more respectable, 33 – 14.

Super Bowl XI was an American football game between the American Football Conference ( AFC ) champion Oakland Raiders and the National Football Conference ( NFC ) champion Minnesota Vikings to decide the National Football League ( NFL ) champion for the 1976 season.