Monday night’s showdown between the Green Bay Packers and Las Vegas Raiders provides a rematch of Super Bowl II, a game Vince Lombardi’s Packers won 33-14 at the Orange Bowl in Miami.
After Super Bowl II, the Raiders won five straight games in the series between 1972 and 1987. Since 1990, the Packers have won eight straight games. Overall, the Packers lead the series 9-5.
While there’s a historical twist to Packers-Raiders, Monday night’s contest also provides layers upon layers on interesting connections between the two teams.
Let’s run them all down:
— Raiders WR Davante Adams will face the Packers, his former team, for the first time since the March 2022 trade. Adams, a second-round pick in 2014, left Green Bay ranked second in team history in catches and receiving touchdowns and fourth in receiving yards. He made five straight Pro Bowls (2017-21) and two straight first-team All-Pro teams (2020-21) with the Packers.
— Packers special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia coached the Raiders special teams from 2018 to 2021 and was the team’s interim coach for 13 games (7-5 regular season, 0-1 playoffs) in 2021. The Raiders did not hire him entering the 2022 season. This will be the first time he faces the Raiders since the departure.
— Packers rookie kicker Anders Carlson will face his older brother, Daniel Carlson, the All-Pro kicker for the Raiders.
— Bisaccia helped Daniel Carlson, who was released by the Vikings after missing would-be game-winning field goals at Lambeau Field in 2018, turn into one of the NFL’s best kickers. Anders Carlson is perfect through four games as a rookie.
— Packers kick returner and slot cornerback Keisean Nixon will face the Raiders, his former team, for the first time. Nixon, an undrafted free agent, spent his first three NFL seasons with the Raiders, playing 40 games for the franchise.
— Packers special teamer Dallin Leavitt will face the Raiders, his former team, for the first time. Leavitt, an undrafted free agent, spent his first four NFL seasons with the Raiders, playing 42 games for the franchise.
— Believe it or not, Packers cornerback Rasul Douglas spent five months with the Raiders in 2021. He signed in April but was released during cuts in August. Douglas eventually wound up in Green Bay via the Cardinals practice squad, and now he’s a solid starter for the Packers.
— Raiders right guard Greg Van Roten was signed by the Packers as an undrafted free agent out of Penn in 2012. He played in 10 games for the Packers before being released in 2014. Monday night will be Van Roten’s 98th career game and 59th career start in the NFL.
— Raiders receivers coach Edgar Bennett played five seasons for the Packers (1992-97) before coaching for 13 seasons in Green Bay. Bennett was the running backs coach from 2005-10, the wide receivers coach from 2011-14 and the offensive coordinator from 2015-17. Bennett won a Super Bowl in Green Bay as a player (1996) and coach (2010) and is a Packers Hall of Famer.
— Raiders defensive coordinator Patrick Graham was hired by Mike McCarthy to be the Packers linebackers coach/run game coordinator for the 2018 season.
— Raiders defensive backs coach/passing game coordinator Jason Simmons spent eight seasons with McCarthy (2011-18) and one with Matt LaFleur (2019) in Green Bay. An assistant in the secondary and on special teams, Simmons was elevated to secondary coach in 2018 and defensive backs coach in 2019 before moving on.
— Raiders quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was the 49ers quarterback when San Francisco upset the Packers at Lambeau Field in the NFC Divisional Round in 2021, the last playoff game played by the Packers. Garoppolo completed only 11 passes. He needed to throw just eight passes (six completions) during the 49ers’ 37-20 win over the Packers in the 2019 NFC Championship Game in Santa Clara.
— Former Packers linebacker Curtis Bolton, a standout during the preseason in 2019 after signing in Green Bay as an undrafted free agent, is on the Raiders injured reserve currently. He made five tackles for the Raiders over 10 games last season.