NFL » AFL Championship

Oakland Raiders

Neal — Sun, 28 Sep 2008 03:08:18 +0000

The Oakland Raiders became an AFL team in 1960. Oakland was a replacement for the Minneapolis franchise which became an NFL team. Oakland had problems right from the start when there was no home field for the Raiders to play on, they had to at Candlestick Park in San Francisco and Kezar Stadium, Oakland Coliseum wasn’t open until 1966. The first three season for the Raiders were awful, compiling a 9-33 record, one of the worst in the entire league. Their average home attendance was only 11,000 also one of the worst in the entire AFL. The Raiders first winning season came in 1963 with a respectable 10-4 record.The Raiders found themselves one of the better team as the 1960′s went on, the Raiders would win the AFL Championship defeating the Houston Oilers 40-7. The Raiders could not beat Vince Lombardi and his Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl II losing 33-14. Regardless, that marked the turning point in the Raiders franchise for more success to come after there impressive 13-1 record in 1967. Over the next twenty seasons from 1966-1985 the Raiders would make the playoffs eighteen times with three straight appearances in the AFL Championship game from 1967-1969 and twelve AFC Western division titles. The Raiders won Super Bowl XI defeating the Minnesota Vikings in a blow out 32-14. The Raiders would make their second appearance in Super Bowl XV defeating the Philadelphia Eagles 27-10 and their third appearance for the Raiders came in Super Bowl XVIII defeating the Washington Redskins in another impressive victory 38-9. The Raiders are the only NFL/AFL to play in a Super Bowl in 1960′s, 1970′s and 1980′s. In 1982 the Oakland Raiders became the Los Angeles Raiders moving to the Los Angeles Coliseum. After twelve seasons in Los Angeles the Raiders moved back home to Oakland.

After a long period without a Super Bowl appearance the raider were in Super Bowl XXXVII against the Tampa bay Buccaneers. The game didn’t go as the Raiders planned losing in a noncompetitive game 48-21. It was a bitter sweet season with Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon winning the Most Valuable Player award throwing for nearly 5,000 yards and twenty-six touchdown passes Since there Super Bowl appearance the Raiders have been technically the worst team in the NFL with the most losses since 2003.

The Raiders have had numerous great players put on the silver and black which include running back Marcus Allen, quarterback George Blanda, defensive end Howie Long, guard Gene Upshaw, center Jim Otto, and head coach Jon Madden, all in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Owner Al Davis has been apart of the Raiders organization since 1963 as either a coach, managing general partner, and now owner. Davis emphasized “Commitment to Excellence” to bring out the best in all his players at all times. The Super Bowl wins seem like a distance memory the Raiders have a mountain of work to do before they are one of the elite teams.

Despite the failures of the Oakland Raiders the last few seasons the fans, or better known as “Raider Nation” with the “Black Hole” still support the team and hope one day they can turn the page and start their winning ways again.

Buffalo Bills

Neal — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 03:25:54 +0000

The Buffalo Bills became a member of the American Football League in 1959. Not until 1963 did the Bills have the on field success they were looking for ending in a tie for the AFL Eastern Division title. The next two seasons saw the Bills win the AFL Championship defeating the San Diego Chargers in 1964 20-7 and 1965 23-0. The Bills played in a their third consecutive AFL Championship game but lost to the Kansas City Chiefs 31-7. After there very successful beginnings the Bills found themselves at the bottom of the league winning only thirteen games in the next five seasons.After a dismal few years the Bills became competitive once again with running back Orenthal James or better knows as O.J. Simpson.

Simpson was the number one overall pink in the 1969 draft by the Bills and made an immediate impact in the Pro’s. Simpson set the then record for rushing yards in a single season with 2,003 becoming the first player do to so and also winning the Most Valuable Player award. Simpson was selected to the 1970′s All Decade team and elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1985.

As the 1980′s wore on the Bills began to see the makings of a successful team again as in the 1960′s. Quarterback Jim Kelly was selected in the 1983 draft but didn’t start for the Bills until 1986 because he choose to play in the United States Football League. In addition to Kelly in 1988 running back Thurman Thomas was selected. The Bills were on the verge of making NFL history, but not in the ideal way. The Bills would play in four consecutive Super Bowls from 1991-1994 which has never been done before, sadly, losing all. The Bills first Super Bowl appearance was the closest game of all with the Bills losing 20-19, making it the closest Super Bowl ever. The flowwong year the Bills made the second appearance against the Washington Redskins losing 37-24. Thurman Thomas lead the league in rushing that year winning the Most Valuable Player. The Bills lost to the Dallas Cowboys the next two years in games that were not very competitive, 52-17 and 30-13. The Bills were victims of a much better Dallas Cowboy team lead by quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, and wide receiver Michael Irvin. Appearing in four straight Super Bowl will probably never happen again, or if it does it will be a very long time. What the Buffalo Bills accomplished overall was still very impressive. While the ultimate prize is to win the Super Bowl, appearing four straight times is something to be proud of.

In 1993 the Bills were apart of more history as well beating the Houston Oilers in overtime in the AFC Wild Card game coming from thirty-two points down to win 41-38. What is more remarkable about that victory is that it was won with the Bills backup QB Frank Reich when starting QB Jim Kelly suffered ligament damage to his knee.

Over the last decade the Bills have had little to be happy about making the playoffs one once in 1999 losing to the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card game. The Buffalo Bills play in the AFC East with the New England Patriots, New York Jets, and the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots have dominated the division the last ten years. The Buffalo Bills are long over do for more success like they had in the 1990′s.

Kansas City Chiefs

Neal — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 04:09:07 +0000

The Kansas Chiefs and formally known as the Dallas Texans, were one of the original teams of the AFL and the AFL team to represent the league in the Super Bowl. Lamar Hunt who wanted a team in the NFL couldn’t get his wish so he decided to take the next best course, the American Football Conference. The Dallas Cowboys who came into the NFL in 1960 and had a large fan base, Hunt knew that the best thing for the good of his franchise is to move the Dallas Texans to Kansas City. The success of the Texans was quickly obtained when they won the AFL Championship defeating the Houston Oilers in overtime in the longest game in football history up until that point 20-17. In 1963 the Dallas Texans became the Kansas City Chiefs. In ten seasons the Texans/Chiefs had a 92-50-5 which was the best record of any AFL team.With a new city and a name change the Chiefs maintained their success winning a second AFL Championship in 1966 defeating the Buffalo Bills 31-7. In 1969, the Chiefs returned to the AFL Championship winning their third defeating the Oakland Raiders 17-7. The Chiefs have seven Hall of Fame players which include Hank Stram, Jan Stenerud, Len Dawson, Lamar Hunt, Junious “Buck” Buchanan, Willie Lanier, and Bobby Bell. Buck Buchanan was one of the greatest lineman of all-time. He was a very durable playing in 166 straight games and a eight time Pro Bowl selection. Len Dawson lead the Chiefs as their quarterback to a victory in Super Bowl IV and was named the Most Valuable Player. Dawson was a seven time Pro Bowl Selection and ended his career with 239 touchdown passes.

Trent Green who was the quarterback of the Chiefs between 2001-2006 was the most successful quarterback in recent memory for the Chiefs, not including Joe Montana who played with the Chiefs in 1993&1994. During the 6 season stretch for Green he became one of the more productive quarterbacks in the league leading the team to a 13-3 record in 2003. Green is one of seven quarterbacks to throw for 4,000 in three or more season in a career.

The Kansas City Chiefs play in the AFC West with the Oakland Raiders, Denver Broncos, and San Diego Chargers. Winning the division will be extremely difficult for the Chiefs with Chargers and Broncos well ahead in the division as of now. It may be a very long time before the Chiefs return to their AFL days and recreate all their former success. There will be a long road back to the glory days of the AFL.