Oakland Raiders: The Kings of Monday Night Football (1970s)

During the 1970s, there was no better team in the NFL at winning Monday Night Football games than the Oakland Raiders. From 1970 to 1979, Oakland posted an incredible 13-1-1 record on their Monday Night Football games. Only the Miami Dolphins and the Washington Redskins came close to Oakland’s win total.

Both the Dolphins and the Redskins each won 12 Monday Night Football games. But both also had at least four losses on their Monday night ledgers.

LISTEN FOR FREE ON YOUR APP OF CHOICE

MONDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL MATCHUPS

In that era of the spectacle known as Monday Night Football, the producers at ABC-TV worked with the league hierarchy to try to have as many winning teams as possible to grace the stage of this weekly tradition. It wasn’t always easy, but the NFL certainly hoped that they would have at least featured some competitive games on those Monday nights.

But it didn’t always work out that way. You see, the league also had some of its adamant directors point to overall fairness, meaning that the viewing public would at least occasionally get a chance to see some teams that were not always winning, or were not located in large media markets. That happened at least several times to the Raiders.

They didn’t seem to mind if the television ratings had fallen off in some of their games, however. They just enjoyed beating up on those “less-than-competitive” opponents.

LOPSIDED GAMES

For example, in 1972, Oakland crushed the Houston Oilers in the Astrodome, 34-0, on Monday Night Football. As the final score indicated, the Raiders dominated the Oilers in practically every statistical category. But that mis-match theory did not always pan out.

In 1973, Oakland had to settle for a 23-23 tie at Denver on Monday Night Football. Then a year later in 1974, the Raiders suffered their only loss on Monday Night Football during the decade, when they fell to the Buffalo Bills, 21-20.

RAIDERS ON MNF IN THE 70s

But all in all, Oakland found ways to post victories in eight out of the 10 seasons that they played a game on Monday nights. That’s a pretty good record. Some of the Raiders’ most incredible wins occurred when they were forced to come from behind in those contests. Their 42-35 comeback triumph in New Orleans against the Saints was probably their most thrilling Monday night victory.

A few other trends were evident when Oakland played familiar teams on Monday Night Football during the 1970s. They beat their AFC West Division rivals, the Kansas City Chiefs, twice on Monday Night Football, in 1976 and 1977. The Raiders also defeated the Cincinnati Bengals a pair of times on Monday Night Football, in 1976 and 1978.

Oakland was also scheduled to play the Miami Dolphins on two Monday Night Football occasions in 1975 and in 1979. The Raiders came away with victories in both of those meetings.

But regardless of who Oakland played on Monday Night Football during the 1970s, they were in the midst of one of the winningest decades of their existence. Only suffering one loss in 15 Monday night opportunities is certainly an enviable record for any NFL club, and one that the Raiders were understandably very proud of. They were known as the Pride and Poise Boys in the 1970s, after all.

Trivia Question:

How many Monday Night Football games against NFC teams did the Raiders play during the 1970s?

LISTEN FOR FREE ON YOUR APP OF CHOICE

Please Share If You Liked This Article

Host of Pro Football in the 1970s - Joe Zagorski

Throughout his days, Joe spent some time as a sportswriter and has been a member of the Pro Football Researchers Association since the mid-1980s. Joe is also a proud member of the Pro Football Writers of America.

“JOE ZAGORSKI WRITER” WEBSITE

CHECK OUT THE NFL IN THE 1970S FACEBOOK PAGE