If you are a lifelong fan of the Raiders, you can probably name a dozen heartbreaking losses throughout the years. That’s just about the case for every team in the NFL, but it does feel like the Raiders have more brutal losses than most.
In a recent article by ESPN’s 32 beat writers, they listed each’s team’s toughest and most heartbreaking loss in franchise history. For the Raiders, it was Super Bowl XXXVII against the Buccaneers.
Here is a snippet of what senior writer Paul Gutierrez had to say about the franchise’s most difficult loss:
“So many games from which to choose. Immaculate Reception? Tuck rule? Derek Carr’s broken leg? Let’s go with a game nearly two decades old, since the Raiders have been to the playoffs only once since.
From All-Pro center Barret Robbins going AWOL to charges of sabotage to three pick-sixes from league MVP Rich Gannon to facing a former coach in Tampa Bay’s Jon Gruden, who knew the Raiders better than they knew themselves.”
While that loss was a difficult one, that game was really never all that close. The Raiders were down 20-3 at halftime and were down 34-3 at one point. It was the Super Bowl and any loss will obviously string, but there were more “heartbreaking” losses in their history.
In some of the other games that Gutierrez mentioned, the Raiders held leads late in the fourth quarter, only to see them slip away.
The “Tuck Rule” game was a perfect example of that as the Raiders were beating the Patriots and Charles Woodson’s strip-sack essentially ended the game. But instead of it ending the game, it started the Patriots dynasty and knocked the Raiders out of the playoffs.
So what loss do you think was the most heartbreaking for the Raiders in franchise history? We would love to know.
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