What happened with the 1981 Raiders?

[CSKreager]

They had virtually the same roster from the 1980 SB team, yet things went so terribly wrong.

They suffered 3 straight shutouts at one point, and in the AFC-CG rematch at home, got beat 55-21 and gave up 5 touchdowns to Kellen Winslow.

They had such an offyear the year after the SB and they would then have the best record in the AFC in back-to-back years (and another in '85).

I used to think that the '80 Raiders was Plunkett and the 1970s Madden era holdovers hanging on for one last moment of glory, but the following few years, they basically kept some of those guys (Hendricks, Cliff Branch) and added Alzado/Marcus/Mike Haynes and had another good 4-year run really up until the Marcus Allen fumble against the Eagles in '86.

I hear so much about the LA rumors being a distraction, but those rumors didn't sink them in 1980.

On paper, they had an easier schedule (NFC Central in '81 wasn't as tough as playing Dallas/Philly in 1980), yet the Chiefs and Broncos sprang up on them.

[74_75_78_79_]

Seemed like a typical case of SB-hangover, especially from a team that - let's face it - played well over their heads in a 'Cinderella' season. They definitely lived by the Big Play in '80 for the entire season all the way to the end. I remember their 2-1 start in '81, winning at Minnesota in a Week #2 Thursday Nighter then beating Seattle the following week. Then came that dreaded stretch which had to tell you they weren't going to repeat. Were they worse than their 7-9 record in '81, better, or just right? They beat division-winners-to-be, Tampa and Miami - pummeling the latter on the road! On MNF they snapped my 8-5 Steelers' 3-game win-streak (Steelers would lose their last two as well). But...Raiders were 1-7 in their division!

As far as struggles that season, the memory that stands out even more so than the three-game shutout streak, was SD shellacking them week #12! My grandfather was one of very few people who had ESPN in '81. I remember being at his house watching, I believe, SportsCenter with he and my dad about the time when most of the 2nd games of the day were over. When going over the scores (one of them may have been Chris Berman), they showed SD being up 48-21 only for the brick-and-mortar scoreboard behind them to flip-over to '54', lol!

In addition to what happened the year before, Raiders ended up with the last laughs. '81 was simply the 'calm' before the final serge of their 'Era of Excellence' which ended, yes, with the Marcus fumble vs Philly.

[Bryan]

When your best passer, runner, and receiver (Plunkett, Van Eeghan & Chandler) all miss a significant portion of the season, your offense will probably suffer. Reggie Kinlaw was a monster in the 1980 postseason, and would be a monster in the 1983 postseason, but he missed virtually all of 1981. Raiders were in probably the toughest division in football, which might be the biggest factor in their fall back to earth. Going from 6-2 in your division to 2-6 in your division doesn't help. If after the 1980 season you were told that Marc Wilson would start 9 games for the Raiders, I would think that you wouldn't be shocked to see the Raiders go from 11-5 to 7-9.

[ChrisBabcock]

Similarly, I've always wondered why the SB champ '81 49ers dropped off to 3-6 the following year. It seems the offense jelled a bit more (very good years from Montana and Clark), but the defense took a nosedive.

[BD Sullivan]

Similarly, I've always wondered why the SB champ '81 49ers dropped off to 3-6 the following year. It seems the offense jelled a bit more (very good years from Montana and Clark), but the defense took a nosedive.

Some of the blame went to Bill Walsh, whose ego had supposedly gone through the roof after being hailed as the new "Genius." A comparison to that effect was made to Hank Stram in 1970, when the Chiefs supposedly had "The Offense of the 70's" already in place.

[Bryan]

Walsh said that he thought too many of the players had their performance diminished due to cocaine use. Kind of a weird thing for Walsh to say, and the only guy he 'accused' by name was Ronnie Lott.

[74_75_78_79_]

Going from 6-2 in your division to 2-6 in your division doesn't help.

My mistake. It somehow alluded me that the Raiders swept Seattle in '81.

'82 Niners? Walsh was about to leave after that season due to pressure put upon himself. He would have only felt good about leaving if Mike White, John Robinson, or Terry Donahue would have replaced him. When neither were interested, he decided to bite the bullet and go on anyway for '83. At the Senior Bowl, Jim Hanifan and another friend who were at the game with him told to him to "get over it" which sealed the deal.

[7DnBrnc53]

Similarly, I've always wondered why the SB champ '81 49ers dropped off to 3-6 the following year. It seems the offense jelled a bit more (very good years from Montana and Clark), but the defense took a nosedive.

Some of the blame went to Bill Walsh, whose ego had supposedly gone through the roof after being hailed as the new "Genius." A comparison to that effect was made to Hank Stram in 1970, when the Chiefs supposedly had "The Offense of the 70's" already in place.

On the Greatest Games show about the 1983 NFC Title Game, Ira Miller indicated that the 1982 49ers had a terrible ground game, which is why they brought in Roger Craig and Wendell Tyler the next year.

[conace21]

The 49ers were terrible running the ball in 1982. Their yards per rush dropped only from 3.5 to 3.4, but they became more one dimensional. They didn't crack 100 yards rushing until the final 2 games of the season, and needed Montana scrambles to do so.
Montana tossed 11 interceptions in 9 games, whereas in 1981 he had only thrown a couple more in 16 games. His INT% wasn't too much higher...because he threw so much more often. I think he threw about 100 less passes in the 9 games of 1982 than he had the previous season.

[Jay Z]

The 1980 Raiders were an old team, particularly on offense. Chandler, Branch, and Ray Chester were all over 30, as well as Plunkett. van Eeghen was in his seventh year. Shell and Upshaw were over 30. All of these players suffered a performance decline in 1981. Todd Christensen and Marcus Allen were big factors on the 1982-83 teams, and Allen was still in college, while Christensen wasn't a starter.

On defense, the main difference was they went from first in the league in INTs to last.