The
Oakland Raiders season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...
was the franchise's 32nd season in the
National Football League
The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...
(NFL), the 42nd overall, their seventh season since their move back to Oakland, and the fourth year under head coach
Jon Gruden, the last of his first stint as the team's head coach.
In the offseason, the Raiders acquired wide receiver
Jerry Rice
Jerry Lee Rice (born October 13, 1962) is an American former professional football wide receiver who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 20 seasons. Known primarily as a member of the San Francisco 49ers, winning three championsh ...
through
free agency
In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...
. Rice excelled with his new team, catching 83 passes for 1,139 yards and 9 touchdowns. The Raiders finished the season 10–6, finishing in first place in the
AFC West
The American Football Conference – Western Division or AFC West is one of the four divisions of the American Football Conference (AFC) in the National Football League (NFL). The division comprises the Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Las ...
for the second consecutive year. Their six regular season losses were by a combined 24 points.
The Raiders qualified for the postseason, beating the
New York Jets in the Wild Card round, who were also the team the Raiders lost to in the final game of the regular season. In the Divisional round, the Raiders blew a 13-3 lead and lost to the
eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots in a
controversial finish. With a minute and 43 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter and the Raiders leading 13–10, cornerback
Charles Woodson appeared to force a fumble of Patriots' quarterback
Tom Brady
Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. (born August 3, 1977) is an American football quarterback for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers of the National Football League (NFL). He spent his first 20 seasons with the New England Patriots organization, with which ...
that was recovered by the Raiders. The play was reviewed by instant replay and the fumble was
ruled an incomplete pass. The Patriots tied the game in the ensuing drive and then won in overtime. The game became known as the
Tuck Rule Game
The 2001 AFC Divisional Playoff game between the New England Patriots and the Oakland Raiders, also known as the Tuck Rule Game or the Snow Bowl, or sometimes referred to as Snow Bowl 2, took place on January 19, 2002, at Foxboro Stadium in Fox ...
.
It would be Jon Gruden's final season as head coach in his first stint with the Raiders. After the season he was traded to the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...
in exchange for Tampa Bay's first-round draft picks in
2002 and
2003, their second-round draft picks in
2004 and
2005, and $8 million in cash. The Raiders faced Gruden and the
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football team based in Tampa, Florida. The Buccaneers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. The cl ...
in the
Super Bowl the
next year, and lost 48–21. Gruden would return to the Raiders as head coach 16 years later in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...
.
Offseason
NFL Draft
Staff
Final roster
Regular season
Schedule
Standings
Playoffs
AFC Wild Card Playoff
AFC Divisional Playoff
References
Raiders on Pro Football Reference
Oakland Raiders seasons
Oakland
AFC West championship seasons
Oakland
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